BRITISH RAJ, 68 HIGH STREET

A fairly large restaurant seating round about a hundred in fairly standard surroundings. An extensive menu contains all the usual dishes plus a few less common names. I was told that there is no connection with the British Raj restaurant in Stone on the other side of Dartford (nor any other local restaurants for that matter).

Onion Bhajis were two flat bhajias which were quite tasty. The Chicken Chatt was a disappointment, as is was very salty and had a dull taste, lacking the tanginess one hopes for in this dish. My main dish of Chicken Bakori (chicken cooked in ginger and garlic, described as medium hot) was also a disappointment. Again it was very lifeless, with white tasteless lumps of chicken in a bland sauce with no discernible taste of either ginger or garlic. Nor could it reasonably be described as 'medium hot'. The other main dish of Tandoori Mixed Korai was much better as at least it had a full flavour. As the name suggests, it comprised various pieces of tandooried meats ( chicken and meat plus pieces of sheek kebab) in a dark rich sauce and served in a korai. It was the best dish by far, but it was one of the slightly more expensive ones. The vegetables dishes  - Aloo Gobi and Sabji E-Bahar (a mixed vegetable dish) - were OK, although the Sabji was slightly disappointing as it was one of three Sabji dishes listed and described by the waiter as the spiciest, but it seemed no more spicy than a normal mixed veg. Rice and Chapatis standard stuff.

I had mixed views about the service. I thought it was much too pushy with regard drinks, as before we had even sat down the waiter was asking 'Drinks?' 'Popadoms?'. I asked to be allowed to settle in and read the menu first, but he still stood by while we did so waiting for our drinks order. Furthermore, he came to the table when my pint was only half finished and asked 'more drinks?' Much too pushy for me, particularly when, at the end and we wanted the bill, we had to call to the waiters who were all chatting together in a corner. Apart from that the service (i.e. conveying food from kitchen to table and the usual enquiry as to how everything was about one minute after we had got it) was OK, and we were given a complimentary drink with the bill.

The prices and portions were about average.

I'm told that they occasionally have entertainment at weekends (its certainly big enough) which is an attraction for people, but all in all it wasn't good enough to attract me back.