Tikka Cottage, 15 Castle Street

With approximately 45 seats this is probably the smallest of Hertford’s Indian restaurants, although it is the longest established, being in business for about 25 years. Tables in typical layout along the two sides, but smartly presented with good quality white linen, and chinaware with the name of the restaurant embossed, which makes a good impression. Plain, coloured walls in modern colours decorated with a few pictures (curiously all with oriental scenes rather than Indian) provide a pleasant ambience. The menu covers all the favourites, and offers a few more interesting dishes (for example, Mishti Kodu - cooked with sweet pumpkin, or Amli - cooked with mango).

We started with our usual benchmark of Onion Bhajia, plus a Vegetable Dosa, which I was pleased (and a bit surprised), to see listed. The Bhajias comprised four round, golf ball size, which encouragingly looked good with the strips of onion loosely bound rather than a solid mass, and thus likely to be crispy all the way through. And so it proved, and with tasty spicing made an above average example. The Vegetable Dosa was a bit of a disappointment, however, as it wasn’t a Dosa at all, merely a dry vegetable curry on a puree that had been folded over. However, the vegetable curry was tasty and enjoyable, and it was only a disappointment as I was expecting a proper Dosa. In this respect the description was misleading. It should be called Vegetable Puree, in the same way a prawn puree etc. are listed.

For our main dishes we had Mishti Kodu and a Tikka Moricha (cooked with green chilli, tomato and herbs). The Mishti Kodu was a very agreeable, medium dish in a thick sauce, which also contained chunks of pumpkin to give a very pleasant sweetish flavour. The Moricha was startlingly bright in colouring (as was, I noticed, a CTM served to the next table), and a bit off-putting, but it was full of flavour. The chillies had been well cooked into the sauce (rather than a few sprinkled on afterwards, which I dislike) to give as good, underlying hotness, which strengthened as the dish was eaten. The herbs, in plentiful evidence in the sauce, added something different, and the sauce also contained plenty of cooked onions. Very enjoyable, although I’m not sure it needed to be so intensely coloured.

The accompanying Mixed Vegetable Bhaji was also good – not overcooked, a good variety of vegetables, and flavorsome in its spicing, while the rice and chapattis were standard stuff.

Prices about average (although probably the most competitively priced of Hertford’s Indian restaurants) and the portions of good size. The service was pleasant and efficient, and the booking system actually worked!! Or I think it did as when we arrived the waiter had just cleared a recently vacated table to which we were directed. It was the only vacant table, so perhaps it was more by luck than an efficient reservation system, particularly as I noted others arriving after us who had to wait for a table to become vacant. But perhaps they hadn’t booked, so I give the restaurant the benefit of the doubt. 

All in all, a very good formula curry in a pleasant restaurant.

Malcolm Wilkins - March 2004