The Lateef Revisited

Our last visit to the Lateef was before we introduced our objective scoring system so, with deliveries in Sittingbourne complete, off we went.

The Lateef is quite a modern looking restaurant, very clean and bright and, tonight, was playing fairly modern indian music.

The Papadums were warm and fresh but disappointingly served with only three pickles - no lime pickle in sight.  The onion was unusually in a bright red sauce which, colour aside, was very pleasant.

The beers arrived after the Papadums (strangely) and were disappointingly warm.  To our minds lager should be served quite cold.

The curries were good and served piping hot.  Phil felt though that his Dhansak was more like a Pathia as it was hot, sweet & sour and didn't have the earthy taste often associated with lentils.

The vegetables and rice were again served piping hot.  The rice was nicely presented and the vegetables were fine.

The service, sadly, was not that good.  Speed was by and large fine if slightly slow but to be asked "is everything OK lads?" and "You fellas up for another beer?  No? - well how about a dessert?" just isn't the sort of service that you would associate with a restaurant.

Area	Phil	Bob
Beer	7	7
Papadum	8	8
Curry	7	7
Rice & Vegetables	7	7
Service & Ambiance	6	5

In total a rather disappointing 69%

In summary a reasonable curry let down by very poor service.

The Spice Lounge, Hadlow

On the way to a delivery to Tonbridge we spotted this restaurant which is on the A26 on the outskirts of Hadlow.  A decision was made and, delivery completed, in we went.  What a great spot!

The restaurant itself is a converted pub - The Rose Revived for those who mourn the passing of pubs - and the conversion has been nicely made.

The Papadums were served quickly and were warm and fresh with a selection of five pickles - including an interesting Onion and Coconut combination.  The beers were nicely cold.

The curries were very good indeed, the rice was served beautifully hot but the meal was let down slightly by rather bland vegetable dishes.  The Sag Aloo could have done with more seasoning and the Muttar Paneer whilst full of sweetness from the peas lacked a little spice.

Such was the quality of the meal, however, that an unusual decision was made to have a dessert - which although not counting towards the overall score must be mentioned.  Phil's  Gulab Jamun was absolutely fantastic and Bob was very jealous that he only chose a boring Ice Cream.....

The service was friendly and attentive without being overpowering and Phil was delighted to see Terry Towel  napkins at the end of the meal.

Area	Phil	Bob
Beer	9	8
Papadum	9	9
Curry	8	8
Rice & Vegetables	7	7
Service & Ambiance	9	9

In total a very good 83% and it was no surprise to see so many people choosing the short drive out of Tonbridge to an excellent restaurant.

Our only complaint is that it is too far from home to be our regular curry haunt!

Jalsha, Wincheap, Canterbury - Fantastic Food but Sorry Service

Not ones to let the Summer Holidays stop a good curry, on the way back from a delivery in Dover we decided to give Jalsha a try.  Jalsha is in the Wincheap area of Canterbury on the A28 itself on the right heading out of Canterbury towards Ashford.  Despite the A28 being a busy road, parking is easy with plenty of bays on the road and the restaurant has its own car park.

The restaurant looks to be a converted pub but is nicely set out without being too garish. The beers were nice and cold as were the papadums - fresh but not warm.  The range of pickles was good with the Lime being particularly spicy.

The curries were excellent as were the vegetables.  A delightful range of flavours and textures that blended together well.

The only downside to the evening was the rather overworked waitress.  We were greeted by an Indian host who told us that Alex would be looking after us.  Alex was an eastern european girl who, although very good, clearly had too much work to do.  Beers were served nice and quickly, as were the papadums but it took several minutes for us to be able to attract here attention to order our curries.  We felt forgotten.

The plates were nice and hot when they arrived but sadly they arrived much earlier than the curries and so were cold by the time the food was actually served.  And no towels (terry or otherwise) at the end of the meal!!

All in all a good curry let down by poor service.

Area	Phil	Bob
Beer	8	7
Papadum	8	7
Curry	9	9
Rice & Vegetables	9	10
Service & Ambiance	6	5

In total  78% - with a bit more staffing it could have been so much more!