Tavistock has two Indian restaurants - The Ganges and Thariks - both in West Street. Of the two Thariks was the least appealing although at a distance it looked fairly modern and smart. However, on closer inspection the exterior was just a bright, almost garish, plastic facade and name board fixed on an old building. Unlike the Ganges it was open at lunchtime but empty so I popped in for a snoop. It looked smart enough inside, seating between 40 to 50, but the tables looked very close together. I asked the waiter for a take-away menu and whether a reservation was necessary for Saturday night. He was unsmiling - almost surly - throughout and seemed to have difficulty in understanding me (a difficulty which was mutual). I wondered if he was the evening waiter - he didn’t create a welcoming impression for someone who, to all intents and purposes, was intending to visit that evening. Notwithstanding the cheap looking frontage he was enough to put me off and I decided on The Ganges for my evening meal. It turned out to be a good choice.

Malcolm Wilkins - February 1999