The small village of Downe near Biggin Hill in Kent has two pubs and a reasonable looking Indian restaurant, so we tried both pubs followed by the restaurant.

The restaurant seats about 60 with a number of tables being circular which is nice for groups larger than four (I don’t know why more Indian restaurants don’t have a few circular tables - most Chinese restaurants seem to). It has a very pleasant ambience, with plenty of greenery, including attractive potted palms, and plenty of room between tables. However, despite the quiet village setting and the better then average interior, the menu was the standard high street curry house list. 

I last visited this restaurant four years ago, and was very unimpressed with the food. An extract from my report at the time said "......overall the food was poor. Standard formula curry, but all dishes were extremely oily, particularly the Shabzi (mixed vegetables) from which the oil could be spooned from the surface. Also, the dishes all lacked any distinctive spicing. Vegetable dishes of Shabzi and Gobi Bhajee not only contained soft, mushy, oily vegetables but had very little spicing to them...."  I was also disappointed with my Chicken Tikka Jalfrezi on that occasion, describing it has having  "tasty pieces of chicken tikka, but lacking much spicing, exotic or otherwise".

I received an email a year or so back from a reader suggesting that the place was better than my report allowed, so although my report said "unlikely to return", I decided to give it another go, although it's taken me a while to do so. I also decided to have much the same dishes by way of comparison.

Well, we did have much the same, although on this occasion my wife had Tandoori Chicken. I have to say, I'm afraid, that it was virtually as my previous report had described. The dishes were so oily that, if you let it stand for a few minutes, you could pour a quantity from the surface. This was particularly so in the Shabzi (mixed vegetables in a spicy sauce) and Dall Sambar. The vegetables in both were a soft, mushy mix, and the Chicken Tikka Jalfrezi, while having some chilies, was otherwise lacking in any positive spicing and again very oily. The best dish was  the Tandoori Chicken, which was good..

The service was OK, portions quite sufficient and prices about average. However, to add insult to injury, when I checked the bill I had been overcharged! 

Once again the meal did not live up to the expectations aroused by the  location and the attractive appearance. This time I really am very unlikely to return regardless of emails suggesting that I might have had an unusually bad experience. .

Malcolm Wilkins - July 2005