Lal Qila

We live in the fortunate position of being within 5 minutes walk of over 40 Indian restaurants as The Curry Mile is just round the corner. Having tried a fair few of these we can safely proclaim one restaurant to be head and shoulders above the rest in terms of food and service and that place is the red neon fronted Lal Qila.

As a post work treat we nipped down on Friday night for a pint and a bite. Before we could get to the curry though there were the obligatory poppadoms and pickle tray which includes (on top of the standard mango chutney, onion, lime pickle and raita) a sweet and spicy green chilli dip which is amazing.

The curries were delivered before the second round of poppadoms could be finished. Jules had gone for the Saag Paneer, a chunky indian cheese cooked in a spinach sauce. Although I am no fan of Paneer cheese I tried the sauce and it was super tasty. Oddly (in my mind) Jules decided to have a salad with her curry but it hit the spot for her!

I went for my regular and dependable dish of chicken jalfrezi along with a pilau rice and a garlic naan bread. The chicken was tender and fresh (unlike other curries you can purchase on the curry mile which use lower grade chewy meat) and the sauce was just at the right level of heat. The pilau rice was sticky and sweet and complimented the curry perfectly as did the naan bread. Most naan breads are doughy and stodgy but Lal Qila's are light and crispy on one side and the garlic is not overpowering, great!

Lal Qila really is consistently good, we've tried lots of others local Indians and although they might be cheaper they really don't cut the mustard. Two things that you should know though is that the portions are not huge and the curries really are not the dryish healthy type of curry. The curries often arrive with a fair amount of butter or chilli oil running around the dish so if you are watching your waistline go elsewhere!