LANGTON GREEN TANDOORI, LANGTON ROAD, LANGTON GREEN

A pleasant, 54-seater restaurant situated on the main road through the village of Langton Green, only some five miles from Tunbridge Wells, this restaurant has been established for 18 years. An interesting menu with some unusual dishes offering opportunities to explore, particularly for those who prefer mild to medium dishes. Dishes such as Panir Chicken/Lamb, Chicken Chomson (cooked with eggs), Muglai Chicken (cooked with fruit and cream), Shimla Chicken (tandoori chicken cooked with green peppers, onion and mushrooms), Akbor Chicken (chicken with keema bhuna with salad) Shamiana Chicken (diced chicken cooked with garlic and a Kashmir massalla), and Tookri Delight (Lamb or Chicken coked with orange and honey) gives a flavour (!) of the different names on the menu.

I had Shahi Pathia, which was essentially a chicken tikka pathia. Pleasantly spiced, reasonably hot (although not overly so) with a background tang, although the sauce (containing tomato) was more 'sloppy' than a normal pathia. Tandoori Chicken properly marinated with standard taste. Vegetable dishes all good - Mixed Vegetable Bhaji was unusually lacking in potato, but had a good mix of other vegetables and a nice peppery taste. The Tarka Dall was quite thick, but with a good garlic flavour. Rice and accompaniments standard stuff.

The restaurant had surprisingly few tables taken for a Saturday night, but it had been a very hot day so perhaps people were more interested in BBQs and salad than Indian curries. Plenty of staff ensure good service, which was pleasant and chatty. Portions not excessive, but reasonable, and prices about average. The only questionable thing was that at the end we were given a single flower in cellophane. A potentially nice gesture if the flower hadn't been virtually dead, with browning, limp petals. It rather negated the gesture. My advice would be to dispense with this offering unless it is guaranteed fresh (although as a nice flower at the end wouldn't make up for a poor meal, I'd dispense with it anyway and rely on the quality of the food to attract customers back). However, dead flowers of not, it was a nice restaurant and a pleasant meal.

Malcolm Wilkins - July 2006