Occasion: Dinner
Party Size: 2
Overall Rating: *** Average/Good
Date Visited: November 2012
Price Per Person: £10 Main Course
Price Per Person: £10 Main Course
Akbar’s is a chain specialising in South Asian and Classic Indian cuisine, with eateries located throughout the UK from Sheffield to Scotland. In West Yorkshire there are 4 Akbar’s and we visited the Bradford venue located on Leeds Road, which was the very first restaurant they opened back in 1995.
This venue is easy to find on the main street and has the advantage of a private car park directly opposite the restaurant for customers. Obviously Akbar’s is well known in the area so tends to get busy, I would therefore recommend you book a table.
We didn’t book on this occasion but they managed to seat us quickly as we were on a tight schedule to dine before going to the theatre. With this in mind they rallied round, located us in a pleasant booth towards the back of the restaurant and we were immediately served. The staff were accommodating, pleasant and very helpful. The waiters are assigned approx 4 tables each so you get a personable service which is prompt and exceeded our expectations.
The restaurant itself has a good ambience it is modern with dark fixtures and fittings and glass chandeliers and mirrors. Akbar’s is classy yet comfortable with leather seated booths situated across the back and dining tables in the centre. As it’s a busy restaurant there is lots of chatter from the other diners which is good as it means you can relax and natter away with your companion without being self conscious.
Between us we ordered some poppadoms and pickles a beer and a sparkling water. The poppadoms were fresh and as you would expect these were priced at a reasonable £0.65 each and served with a pickle tray at £1.00 that included a mint & yoghurt dip, tomato and onion salsa, a spicier lime chutney and the classic mango chutney. The drink choices were good with the usual selection of beers, spirits and soft drinks available. A small beer cost £3 and a sparkling water £2.
Although we did not order starters there was a good selection and they were reasonably priced between £3-5 and included the usual Pakoras, Onion Bhajis and Tikka through to Shami Kebabs and Calamari. For vegetarians there were 7 choices of vegetarian starters from Pakora’s to Pori and for main courses you would be happy with the 19 vegetarian dishes on offer – pretty impressive.
For our main courses we both ordered a main dish and a side of Pilau rice priced at £1.95, there was a good selection of other sides available ranging from Nan through to Pratta all sides were within the price of £1.50-3.00.
For my main course I had the Chicken & Chilli Balti priced at £7.45 and denoted on the menu as hot & fiery. The curry came in a traditional Balti dish and was well presented and garnished with fresh coriander, chillies and lemon. The consistency was nice and rich and it contained plenty of chicken although I was disappointed in the quality of the meat. The chicken appeared to be off the bone with the majority of the chicken pieces being the dark meat. If I had known (it wasn’t stated on the menu) I would have picked another dish as I prefer chicken breast. I always find it off putting when you order a chicken dish and the meat is brown. As for the sauce I was also disappointed as it was very tangy and acidic. There seemed to lack a depth of flavour and given the consistency I expected it to deliver a better flavour. However, it was hot and nicely spiced as stated.
My partner chose the Rogan Josh priced at £6.95 and this was definitely the better dish of the two. The lamb was plentiful and tender, the consistency was saucy and rich and the depth of flavour was tasty, no complaints on this dish.
Overall my thoughts on the quality and taste of the meal is split 50:50 the Balti wasn’t the best but the Rogan Josh was good, so given the excellent service and relaxed ambience I think it’s only fair to rate Akbar's as "good" as there are more positives than negatives and hopefully the Balti was a one off disappointment!
Akbar’s is an ideal place for a curry if you are in the Bradford area and you want a nice venue with efficient and excellent service. I’d need to revisit again though to be convinced on the standard/quality of food though.
No comments:
Post a Comment