Situated on the outskirts of the village of East Peckham in Kent (nowhere near Peckham in London so don’t get confused!), the restaurant is housed in a former pub and so has its own car park. The restaurant is in one half of the building, while the other half looks as though it provides accommodation for the employees (judging from the Indian faces at the windows on my recent visit).

That visit was midweek in the middle of winter, and apart from one other table, we were the only customers. In a large restaurant this projected a desolate atmosphere, although I did comment that the service was good (as it should have been with only two tables taken) and the manager friendly.

That was over six years ago, so I went to revisit to update myself.. As I drove past at 5pm on a preliminary foray I was a little disconcerted to see that it looked as though it may have closed down. I pulled into the car park to check it was still operational, as although not derelict the peeling paint on the outside, weeds poking through the ground in the car park and so on gave it an air of neglect. However, a menu was displayed and as I looked at it a man in an upstairs window asked what I wanted. He assured me the restaurant was still in business, and under the same ownership as it had always been. Having almost been put off by the deterioration of the external appearance, we decided on balance to stick to our original plan and give it a go later in the evening, although with a sense of foreboding that if the interior, food and general atmosphere had similarly deteriorated, then we were in for a disappointing evening.

When I returned at about eight I was pleasantly surprised - almost amazed. Although the exterior has gone down, the interior is still appeared as it was - comfortable with a pleasant decor - and absolutely packed! I know it was a Saturday evening on this occasion, but to pack a 100-seater at 8pm, particularly after our previous experience of midweek lonliness, left me open mouthed. I am also happy to say that the food was much better than our previous experience. Perhaps it was the chef's night off last time, but this time everything was of a good, formula curry standard. I couldn't try all the dishes again (there were four of us last time), but the Chicken Tikka Pathia was much improved - gone was the striking red tomato sauce, and it was much thicker, with a good sweet/sour balance. Tandoori Chicken was well marinated and full of flavour. The vegetable dishes - Aloo Gobi and Mixed Vegetable Bhajee were OK, with a peppery flavour, although they tasted very similar except that they contained different vegetables. The remainder standard stuff (although we didn't risk a Peshwari Nan).  

Standard menu and good-sized portions, although prices are marginally higher than average. Service also good with plenty of waist-coated waiters running about and dealing efficiently with the orders (including the steady stream of people arriving for take-away meals).  

Given my misgivings from my first impressions of the outside I was delighted to find that all was well once inside. All in all a decent formula curry (even though it still does not deserve  the "sumptuous cuisine" tag) and much improved from last time (all except the outside, which would certainly benefit from being smartened up a bit).

Malcolm Wilkins - July 2007