Homesdale Tandoori, Bromley

Wednesday 26^th June 2013

The latest curry club outing saw some new recruits make their debuts, so we were hoping for a good performance from Homesdale Tandoori in Bromley.  

Our table was booked for 7:30pm and when we arrived, the restaurant was completely empty making the atmosphere feel a little awkward.  The place has been renovated in the last few years and it looks like a typical old fashioned curry house trying to be modern, with brightly painted walls and wooden floors.  It unfortunately now feels quite cold and ‘echoey’.  More diners gradually arrived as the evening went on though, and the lively Indian music helped improve the ambience.

The group chatted away as beers were brought out, as well as two crispy poppadoms each, with a range of four fresh dips.  The poppadoms are usually an indicator of how good the rest of the meal will be and expectations were now pretty high.

To start, I plumped for gosht tikka lamb.  Cubes of juicy meat, off the bone, in an unusual tikka style marinade.  The lamb was very tender, well spiced and attractively presented.  It was obvious with all the starters that an effort is made to impress.

 

Tandoori Chicken

The main course I went for was Chicken Tikka Balti.  The chicken was tender and full of tikka flavour.  The sweet, chunky curry was great and as I’d requested it ‘vindaloo hot’, it was an absolute scorcher!

A few of the others chose Chicken Akarban.  Described on the menu as ‘very hot’, the only actual kick came from what appeared to be some kind of dried chilli’s sprinkled on top.  They were black and quite bitter  -  they tasted like they were burnt but I guess they are meant to be like that, very strange.  The actual sauce was tasty though and everyone’s main courses seemed to go down really well.

The bill came in well above average but we weren’t offered any complimentary drinks.  Instead, as we were leaving, each of us was presented with an envelope.  We were all eager to see what the gift was as we opened them up, only to find that they were take-away menus.  Wow, thanks fella’s.  You’re too kind.

 

Ghee-zers. Paps & Fabio make their curry club debut

MENU	Homesdale Tandoori
MAIN:	Balti and chicken tikka masala were hits. Chicken Akarban was enjoyable despite the strange black/burnt chilli bits	14/20
STARTERS/     SIDES:	Starters were all tasty and impressively presented. Sides were enjoyable.  Naan bread was quite greasy on top	6/10
VARIETY:	An interesting range of dishes	7/10
HEAT:	Perhaps not too hot on average but the vindaloo hot Balti was a ring-stinger!	4/5
DRINKS:	Cobra was the only lager on offer and that was pricey	1/5
VENUE
ATMOS:	Not great.  ‘Echoey’ and awkward at times	7/20
SERVICE:	Quite attentive but the waiters did tend to hover around	5/10
VALUE:	£33 a-head including service charge.  Midweek.  Very steep indeed	2/10
LOCATION:	Not far from the town centre.  Near a few pubs.	4/5
BONUS:	No free drink.  But we were presented with a take-away menu each. Cheers!	0/5
	FINAL SCORE	50%

Booking Name: Nikolay Beastov

Pubs:  The Brick Layers Arms, Chatterton Arms

Highlight:  Super-hot Balti Vindaloo

Lowlight:  The bill was well over the top especially for a Wednesday night

Verdict:  The food was actually very good but pretty much all other areas were poor

28 Homesdale Rd  

Bromley

BR2 9LD
020 8466 5701

http://homesdaletandoori-bromley.co.uk//