INDIAN SUMMER, 20 EAST STREET

This one opened in the summer 2002 and is Newquay's biggest Indian restaurant, seating 150, although it doesn't look it from the outside as there is a large upstairs dining area. It is one of the more modern school of Indian restaurants that are springing up, being light and airy with light wood flooring, inset ceiling lights, off-white plain walls decorated with square boards painted with colourful contemporary style designs. Light wood Formica topped tables and red & blue chairs completed the picture.

The menu is also slightly different as, along with all the usuals, some less familiar names catch the eye. Names like 'Mala Dohi' (cooked with ginger, garlic, mustard seeds, chili and yogurt), 'Amm Bujon' (chicken tikka with almond, coconut, mango and sweet honey) and 'Moricha' (lamb or chicken tikka fried with chillis, onion, peppers and tomatoes in a sour spicy sauce) are just some examples.

We started with Onion Bhajias and Boal Biran (fillets of the Bangladeshi fish seasoned with spices, shallow fried and served with herbs). The Boal comprised three fairly small (but quite sufficient for an appetizer) fillets, cooked as described and covered with a julienne of fresh onion and capsicum. The fish has a pleasant mildly sweet flavour and was lightly spiced, which meant the taste of the raw onion and capsicum was fairly strong, although it went well with the sweet flavour of the fish. Onion Bhajias (three round variety) were a pleasingly light composition, nicely crisp with a slightly different but indeterminate flavour to the spicing, but tasty nonetheless.

For our main courses my wife had Tandoori Chicken which, although OK, was not the most succulent pieces of chicken I have tasted! Nevertheless, it was a fairly typically marinated and tasting of tandoori chicken. Our other dish was Chicken Tikka Moricha which, although as already described, was served on a sizzling platter and without any discernible 'sour spicy sauce' as mentioned in the menu description. It was OK, but the taste was just chicken tikka and fried onions with some chilli for hotness. As it was unexpectedly dry it was the wrong dish to order given the other was Tandoori Chicken. With hindsight perhaps I should have gone for something I know has a sauce - I certainly will if I visit again. The accompanying Dry Vegetables were, as so often the case (particularly in this part of the country) small, diced bits of vegetables and a little oily. However, they were fresh tasting, reasonably spiced and a fairly standard and acceptable example. The prices were about average and the portions plentiful. 

All in all the food was nice but fairly average, which was a bit of an anti-climax given the smart modern appearance. However the service fell below average and, in my opinion, was unprofessional. Three young waiters all looked slightly bored and uninterested, giving the impression they were just there to transport the food from kitchen to table. Although there were three of them, only one seemed to be in the dining area when not taking orders of serving food, and then generally taking little notice of the customers or their possible requirements. The others seemed to spend much time out of sight at the back, and on a trip to the toilets I saw one of them standing in the serving annex, joking with one of the chefs and smoking. As he was standing next to the tables bearing the relishes, pickles and garnishes and where the food is placed after coming from the stoves before being served it did not create a favourable impression. I also had difficulty in attracting the attention of the sole waiter in the dining area (who was gazing disinterestedly out of the window) to get my bill. I did not leave a tip!

The question is, would I go again? Well, in the hope the service gets more professional (and to be fair it was not the head waiter/manager at fault as he seemed to mostly engaged in other things upstairs) then I would certainly give it another try. Next time, however, I would choose different dishes..

Malcolm Wilkins - September 2002