Trip to Amsterdam - Patatje Oorlog, Indonesian, Traditional Dutch and the Supper Club.

First an apology - it has been an unforgivable amount of time since I last posted. No excuses. I got lazy.

Any way, before I had my time away I had started writing this post, and I have decided to put it up as I left it. It's not finished, but it's worth putting up. I can no longer remember what I ate on the rest of our trip to Amsterdam, but what's below is worth knowing. So, there you go.

After this post I am going to attempt to write up my trip to Japan and all the amazing food I ate there. I was away a long time, but I've got it all written up long hand, so fingers crossed I'll remember everything ok.

Til next time...enjoy Amsterdam.


In February I went to Amsterdam with the Bear for a long weekend. It was such a great weekend. From coffee shops to the Supper Club, over three days we gorged ourselves on everything Amsterdam had to offer.

Getting Started

We arrived on the Friday afternoon and decided we didn't have time to fit in a museum before closing time, and headed straight to a cafe for some food. What better way to start than with a pancake? You can find them everywhere in Amsterdam and are usually served with a mixture of cheese, bacon, ham and of course sweet accompaniments. I went for the cheese and felt instantly part of the furniture. The pancakes or pankokken have the size of a crepe and halfway towards the thickness of an American pancake. Yum yum yum.

After our lunch we went for a stroll through the flower market and made the inevitable trip to a coffee shop. I won't say much about our experience in the Dampkring coffee shop except to say the mint tea was lovely, I had to have a lie down pretty soon after and I shan't be going anywhere near a coffee shop for the rest of the weekend. Nuff said.

First Meal - Indonesian - Tujuh Maret - 73 Utrechtsestraat - 7/10

After spending the rest of the afternoon flitting between deep sleep and uncontrollable fits of giggles we were bloody hungry. Amsterdam is famous for its Indonesian cuisine, a leftover from its imperial past. The Bear wanted to try a Rice Table or Rijsttafel. This is a dish unique to the Netherlands. It's the equivalent to our Chikken Tikka Marsala. You probably won't find it much in Indonesia but the Dutch are mad for it.

The basic idea is a plate with rice as the centre point with a number of side dishes around it that increase in chilli intensity. You can have as many or as few side dishes as you like. We went to one of the main eating streets in the city Utrechtsestraat, and headed to the not so famous but very yummy Tujuh Maret. The Bear got his Rijsttafel and was very happy with it. There was everything from satay vegetables to Beef Rendang (an Indonesian Beef curry with an almost dry coconut sauce). The only slight niggle was the heat. Even though the Bear had asked for his spicy he could easily handle it and was slightly disappointed. Great flavours though.

I went for the vegetarian selection and ordered some Prawn Satay on the side. My dish was a clear loser compared to the Bear's Rijsttafel. Although everything tasty nice it was a lot less colourful and the tofu was chewy, overdone and there was no heat whatsoever. The Prawn Satay on the other hand was great. It had a much lighter sauce than the vegetable satay, and it was thick and moreish. Something to get your hands sticky with!

We didn't get and booze with our meal, but instead some gorgeous fruit juices. I went for lychee juice and the Bear for Mango. I tell you what, they did us the world of good after our exploits in the afternoon.

The bill came to 60 Euros. Not too bad. But we didn't have starters or alcohol. Amsterdam isn't a cheap eat unless you live off chips and pancakes.

Albert Cuypmarkt - Breakfast on the Move.

After a night drinking Heineken, wandering through the Red Light District and playing chess in the Bull Dog we needed a good breakfast. And boy did we get it.



The Albert Cuypmarkt is a market in the De Pijp area of the city, open six days a week 9am - 5pmish. It's named after a seventeenth century painter and has been trading on Albert Cuypstraat for nearly a century. We decided to take a morning stroll through the stands which line each side of the road. There is a mixture of clothing, tat and food stalls. The food covers everything from Deli stalls, spices, cheese, meat, fish, hot food, veg, everything you could ever want or need. There's Greek, Dutch, Chinese, Middle Eastern, everything.

I must admit we got a bit carried away. We started off by munching through a huge thin, caramel filled Dutch waffle made fresh before our eyes. The man at the stall rolled up little balls of dough which he then squeezed flat and cooked in hydraulic waffle irons. He then clamped two waffles together with caramel. NAUGHTY. I got caramel all over my gloves. There was warm happy faces everywhere within 50 yards of the stall.

We then came across the Belgian Waffle stall. It would have been rude to say no. These are your traditional deep, thick, cross hatch waffles. Again they were cooked in huge waffle irons in front of us, dusted in icing sugar and then splattered with your choice of dark, milk or white chocolate. What a breakfast?! The dough was so light it melted in your mouth. Amazing.

Having consumed enough sugar to last us at least a week we wandered back through the market towards the Museum district to see some Van Gogh (of course). As we neared the end of the stalls we realised we missed the herring stall right at the front when we'd started walking. There was no way I was missing out on this, even if I had just eaten a pound of sugar!

They call it Hollandse Nieuwe or Dutch Sushi, and it consists of raw herring and some gherkins served on bread or just by themselves. The fish is beautiful. It's prepared in a special way, with the innards removed apart from the pancreas. The enzymes in the pancreas allow the fish to ripen, along with salt, and it's this process that gives the fish its signature taste. It's the perfect start to our first full day in Amsterdam.

Lunch - Old Amsterdamer and Heineken - Yum

After wandering round the Van Gogh Museum we needed some sustenance before we ventured forth into the Heineken Museum. Over the road from the imposing brown brick brewery there is a tiny brown cafe which serves great traditional Dutch lunches. I went for a simple yet perfectly formed Old Amsterdam (cheese) sandwich served with mustard sauce. Crusty roll, mature cheese, beer. Sorted.

The Bear went for the croquettes, which are minced beef and mashed potato deep fried. Pretty simple food, but the Bear commented that it made such a difference that good quality mince had been used, unlike the pub food you get in the UK more often than not.

Properly fortified we entered the Heineken brewery, which was very enjoyable, and we left suitably pissed.



Second Meal - Moeders - 251 Rozengracht - 9/10

We decided we needed to sample some traditional Dutch cuisine whilst we were in the city so we hot footed it to the Jordaan, which is a bohemian area of the city, filled with boutique shops, brown bars and teeny tiny restaurants boasting all cuisines.

We'd read about Moeders in the guide book, and the story of the restaurant intrigued us so much we just had to go. The restaurant was opened in 1990 and didn't have any decorations, cutlery, furniture etc. So the new owners ask their customers to donate a picture of their mother (aka Moeder) and whatever else they could spare. The result is a fantastic space covered from floor to ceiling with framed pictures of people's mothers, and a happy eclectic style and brilliant home comfort food.



The place was heaving. The atmosphere was great. Huge windows surround the dining area so you can gaze out into the streets of the city whilst eating top notch food. I started with the Lobster Soup, which was deep, rich and buttery with a huge punch of flavour. The Bear started with a Mama's Happas which is a plate of different hor'd eorves. There was Tuna Pate, Sabayon Oyster, Spinakopita (filo pastry with feta and spinach, and liver pate. We were both delighted.

For mains I had the fish of the day which was cooked in a lovely white wine sauce with sauted carrots (which I ate even though I normally hate carrots) and the Bear went for a traditional Dutch Stamppot. This is a hotchpotch of mashed potato with vegetables, Dutch sausage from the HEMA department store, bacon and a meatball. It was particularly hearty and the Bear had proper meat sweats by the end of it.



We couldn't face pudding after all that lot but we did go for a fresh mint tea which is a staple in all good Dutch restaurants, bars, cafes etc. The was accompanied by a biscuit tin with homemade cookies and shortbread which were awesome.

The whole lot came to around 60 euros again, which was a bargain considering all the seafood I'd had. The service was very friendly, the atmosphere was excellent and the food was delicious. I was definitely recommend this place to anyone travelling to Amsterdam. It's a bit off the beaten track but very much worth it.

The Last Supper - Valentines Day - The Supper Club - Jonge Roelensteeg - 10/10

The Big Easy - Kings Road - 7/10

Friday night, no place to go, what shall we do?? I know, let's go and spend a fortune on classic America fayre on the King's Road. Fabulous idea. And there's only one place for it - The Big Easy.

I've never been to The Big Easy before, but I've been wanting to try it for ages. It's famous for serving lots of seafood and lots of steak. So perfect for pescatarian me and full-blown carnivore The Bear.

The restaurant is decked out to look like an old school American shack, with dark wood interiors, brown paper tablecloths and the obligatory Americana stuck at weird angles to every bit of available ceiling. Think TGI Fridays but much much better.

The place is packed and its only 7pm - early doors. The music is brilliant. Everything from Jimi Hendrix to the Postal Service. And the service is warm and professional.

We went for the Seafood Platter to Share for starters which was good, if a little stingy for the £20 price tag. Two oysters each, two prawns and two crab claws. All were painfully fresh, but the prawns stood out from the rest. The whole lot was served with sweet chilli and Cocktail Sauce as well as Shallot Vinegar. Everything was homemade. The sweet chilli sauce in particular, which has a rich, ketchupy taste and consistency, was excellent. I could have eaten it twice though.

Our appetites duly whetted we waited for our mains, during which time I was tempted into a Lychee and Mint Martini. This little beauty was GORGEOUS. They spoilt it a bit by putting a glace cherry in the bottom of the glass, but I've never tasted such a smooth cocktail before. It went perfectly with my Alaskan King Crab Leg as well!

The mains turned up and hardly fit on the table. I went for the Crab Leg which was served with a House Salad (OK - Covered in Ranch dressing which I'm not keen on). It was huge. I mean this Crab must have been a ruddy monster! The leg was served simply with a wedge of lemon and sweet drawn butter. Sinful! What is essentially one of the healthiest things you can eat that isn't grown in the ground becomes so decadent when dipped in melted butter - but so so tasty. I was in my element.

As was The Bear, who went for the 600g Double Thick Cut Prime Rib Eye. It was massive. He got the meat sweats. All was right with the world.

We thought we might as well finish how we'd started, by overeating, and ordered the Pecan Pie and two espressos. The pie was yummy. Freshly prepared and cooked, the pastry was melt in your mouth, and the treacle filling oozed onto the plate when you dug into it. Top notch.

This meal was wonderful. Great food, great atmosphere, great service. Just one thing let it down. The price. I know steak is expensive, and I know good quality fresh seafood is also expensive. But £120 for two people is quite a lot. This place is definitely a treat rather than a regular haunt.

But don't fear. There's another similar restaurant down the road in Fulham called the Cabin Bar and Grill that is a good alternative (although there is less memorabilia about the place.)

Keep on chomping!!

One of the Best Meals of My Life

This meal didn't happen that recently, but I have been a little slack over the last month or two, and out of all the meals I've eaten since then, this one deserves a mention at least.

For my birthday the Bear took me to New York. It's everything you could ever want for a birthday, to be whisked off on a romantic long weekend. And it was great fun. We ate lots too. At least once every three hours. From pancakes, bagels, deli sandwiches, pizza, pretzels, you name it we ate it.

On the last night we made a reservation at a restaurant we've been wanting to go to for a long time - Les Halles. The scene of Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential. A restaurant with the motto, American Beef Prepared in the French Style. Not quite so good for me (a pseudo veggie) but very good for my carnivore companion.

We walked eight blocks in the pouring rain to be greeted by a lavish, dimly lit, French paradise. The restaurant is split in two by a long wooden bench and tables emanate from it. Every available space is full of diners, happily chomping down on fois gras and fillet steak. The latest pop tunes bubble away just audible to the diner, and there is an army of aproned staff, each with their own specific task.

I immediately loved the place. It's like Cafe Rouge but a million billion trillion times better. It's relaxed but not scruffy, it's French but not uptight. In short, it's perfect. And bloody cheap.

To start I had Escargot. The snails came in a deep, almost green, garlic butter in a special deep dish with six holes in it to house a snail each. The snails were meaty and juicy. I doubt very much I will ever have escargot like it again.

The Bear went for the Fois of course. Having read Bourdain's books I know he takes his fois gras very seriously, and so did the Bear. There was no talking during the starter. Just contented concentration.

For mains I had Seared Scallops with Artichoke and Potato Crisps. The scallops were huge, almost raw in the middle, and so so tasty. The artichoke had been cooked with fennel and had a lovely subtle aniseed flavour. All this was piled high with strands of potato deep fried until crunchy. It was awesome.

The Bear went for the steak and didn't speak again for a long time. It was expertly cooked and full of flavour. The chips were chunky. And the mayonnaise was homemade (of course).

For dessert we went all out. Oh yeah, Chocolate Souffle time baby. My god. I think I died and went to heaven for a full ten minutes when eating this perfectly gloopy, wicked pud!! The souffle was sat in a sea of hot chocolate sauce, and once stabbed with an eager fork, even more gungy, gooey, gorgeous chocolate oozed out of it. Yum yum yum yum yum yum yum.

The bill came to a piffling $120, which is about £75. What a bargain. The same meal would cost you at least twice that in London.

This restaurant almost makes me want to up sticks and move continent. That's how good it is. If you in New York City, please give this place a try. You won't regret it.

Wahaca - Chandos Place - Covent Garden - 9/10

Do you like Mexican food? Until Saturday I could take it or leave it. Your usual TGI Friday fajitas just aren't that appetizing. And a burrito covered in generic cheese and sour cream always leaves me feeling about ten stone heavier.

Luckily, Masterchef winner Thomasina Miers has come to my rescue!

On Saturday the Bear and I celebrated 3 years together (my how time flies) and we decided to theme the day. First off a trip to the British Museum for a lecture entitled "An Introduction to Mexican Cookery by Thomasina Miers". Around 150 people packed into the lecture theatre, where a huge table laden with chillies, tomatoes, avocado, squash, pumpkins and a whole host of Mexican produce covered the length of the stage.

Thomasina was very engaging and passionate about Mexican cuisine, making a trip to Mexico for me and the Bear pretty likely in the next couple of years. She made it clear that Mexican food is poorly represented in the UK, but had high hopes for the future. I wouldn't be surprised if she has her own Mexican cookery series on the telly pretty soon!

After the lecture we took a look round the Moctezuma exhibition which was packed with hundreds of beige, slow, annoying people, and then wandered down to Thomasina's restaurant Wahaca, to see if her food lived up to her enthusiasm.

We were not disappointed. Wahaca is a gem.

We arrived at the restaurant at 4pm, which is pretty early, even on a Saturday, but there was still a long queue down the steps leading to the main restaurant. We were told there was a 40 minute wait - you can't book. Undeterred we duly got a tequila cocktail from the bar and waited with the masses. Seats were scarce in the holding pen, and one wrong move could have led to a riot, but luckily my fellow would-be diners were cheery and patient (not so when we left at 6pm when the queue was three times as long and a lot more menacing!).

The no-booking policy is part of a whole market-eating philosophy which permeates the entire venue. Bright, fresh colours on the walls, high ceilings, lots of light wood and warm lighting colludes to make a pleasant and summery eatery.

After about 25 minutes we were shown to our table by a very amiable chap who talked us through the menu. The paper menus that double as table cloths are reminiscent of Wagamama, and the "food comes when its ready" approach confirms the similarity. Squiggles on the table settings confirm what you've ordered and brisk but professional and smiling service brings the whole experience together.

We went for a soup each to start, which isn't the first thing I would have thought of when going for a Mexican, but it was bloody scrummy! I went for the Black Bean Soup with a hint of chilli with diced avocado, toasted ancho, feta, crema and totopos. It came with the soup in a jug and the accompaniments lying in wait in a deep bowl. The soup was chunky, gloopy and beautiful smokey from the toasted ancho chillies. I have never tasted anything like it. The salty feta melted and swirled through the beans, and the crunch of totopos (think similar to nachos) added that little something extra to the texture. BEE-EE-EE-OO-TIFUL!

The Bear went for a similar soup, but with a Tomato base rather than bean, and with strips of chicken. He had a similar reaction to me. Top marks so far.

As a sort-of main we went for the Wahaca selection of street food. This includes 3 Pork Pibil Tacos, 3 Seasonal Vegetable Tacos, 2 Huitlacoche Quesadillas, 2 Smoked Herring Tostadas, 2 Chicken Taquitos and Black Beans and Green Rice. After the soup we were pretty full, but we did our best to demolish the street food.

First up the Huitlacoche Quesadillas, which are toasted flour tortillas with Mexican corn mushroom (which is a sort of fungus that grows on corn in Mexico and has a truffly flavour), British field mushrooms and lots of melted cheese. These parcels were oozing with earthy mushroom flavour and the cheese wasn't too cloying. There was a salsa verde and normal salsa on the table, and these quesadillas were luscious dipped in the spicy sweet tomatillo salsa.

The Smoked Herring Tostada is MSC approved - so a guilt free eat - and very tasty. Served on crisp tortillas with tomato and capers, they are light and fresh.

The Bear ripped into the Pork Pibil Tacos and Chicken Taquitos. The tacos are soft flour tortillas piled with slow cooked pork in a Yucatecan marinade. The Taquitos are corn tortillas wrapped around a filling and deep fried. The Bear managed to polish off all of his alloted street food.

I didn't fair so well. The Vegetable Tacos were rather neglected, but out of the lot they were by far the least exciting.

We were seriously full at this point. I mean dangerously full. Three taquila mojitos, and a belly full of beans. Not good. We were very very tempted by the Churros, which are long straight doughnuts served with a large quantity of sugar and a chocolate dipping sauce. I really did wany to try them, because they bring back memories of breakfast at the cental market in Valencia, but it wouldn't have been sensible. A reason to go back though.

The bill came to £63 - which is a lot - you could eat there for a lot less, but we had a lot of booze and a lot of food.

Wahaca is a breath of fresh air. Extremly tasty, light and fresh mexican food at affordable prices. The only drawback is not being able to book creating long waits to be seated.

I will be back.

Mien Tay - Lavender Hill - 7/10

The other night I took the recommendation of a work colleague and made a trip to Mien Tay, a Vietnamese restaurant on Lavender Hill near Clapham Junction. And boy am I glad I did.

As we walked up to the restaurant, the steamy windows drew us in from the chilly night outside. On the inside the place is pretty unassuming. Mirrors line the walls on two sides, and flaky magnolia paint adorns the rest. The main restaurant is raised up from street level, and kitted out in wicker furniture and paper table cloths. It looks very similar to its East End counterparts on the Kingsland Road, which is no bad thing.

Lifted by the shabby chic decor, the Bear and I plonked ourselves down for a feast.

First off, the drinks. The restaurant is bring your own booze, but the Bear and I stuck to non-alcoholic alternatives. He went for the Vietnamese coffee, which is served in a two tier contraption, with condensed milk in the bottom and the brewing coffee in the top. When the coffee is ready you pour it into the milk. If you're a fan of sweet coffee you'll like this, I had one sip and it gave me an instant sugar high. I went for the homemade lemonade, which was beautiful, and again, very sweet.

To start we ordered a Tofu and Bean Sprout Pancake and Roasted Whole Quail. The dishes come out when they're ready, and my pancake made the first appearance. It was huge, and very tasty. The crisp batter gave a delightful crunch which contrasted with the soft tofu beautifully. We thought they might have forgotten the quail so the Bear ate half of my starter, only to be faced with a whole bird to eat.

We over-ordered on the main course too. I went for the Tamarind Prawns and Vegetable Rice and the Bear ordered Whole Sea bass and Seafood Vermicelli.

The tamarind prawns were beautiful. They were coated in a sticky sweet tamarind sauce which oozed around the tender meat of the prawns - by far the best dish of the meal. The seabass was of an equal standard. The skin had been cooked so it crackled, with deep scores down its sides allowing the chilli and spice to soak into the succulent flesh. The mixture of coriander, chilli, ginger, garlic and onion was tip top. All fresh, all delicious.

The side dishes (which were bigger than the mains) were average. Vegetable rice is pretty much just vegetable rice. The seafood vermicelli came in a large bowl, with its constituent parts placed separately. There is a childish joy in mushing stuff together, and it was tasty, but it didn't sparkle like the other dishes, and the mussels were a little grey.

The service through out the meal was excellent and the total bill came to £42 including service, which was great value considering the amount of food we had. We could have done without at least a third of it.

I will definitely be back to Mien Tay. In fact, the Bear made his second trip only three days later. It must be a hit.

Zilli Fish - Brewer St - Soho - 9/10

This week I went for a girlie night out with Bangers and Bean (don't ask). We decided to go to Zilli Fish as they have an amazing set menu at the moment. Three courses for £19.90 - not bad.

The last time I went to Aldo Zilli's restaurant was on my 21st Birthday many moons ago, and it made a significant impact. I was worried that the restaurant wouldn't live up to my memories of Tuna Carpaccio and Lobster Spaghetti. I shouldn't have fretted.

We met in the pub first - The Warwick - which has a 50% off happy hour between 5pm - 8pm seven days a week - which is pretty impressive. This meant we had already consumed a bottle of wine before we even darkened the doors of Zilli.

We were greeted at the door by a very friendly Maitre d' and were offered any seat in the house practically. The restaurant was a tad on the empty side, but the room is encased by floor to ceiling windows, so the view of Soho is enough to make the place feel busy.

We all ordered the same thing, Thai Mussels to start and Spicy Seafood Spaghetti for mains. Plus a bottle of house white (of course). The starter was very generous, full of citrus and chilli, and perfectly cooked. The mussels were juicy and fat. My only complaint being there was nothing to soak up the beautiful broth with. A couple of pieces of bread would have been a nice touch.

The spaghetti was just as good. It was full to the brim with squid, prawns, langoustine, mussels and clams. The sauce was deep and warm with the heat of the chilli, and very comforting on the first drenched day of Autumn. There is nothing I can criticise about this dish. It was perfect.

The service throughout the meal was impeccable. Not once did we have to pour our own drinks and the speed of delivery was just right. We were given enough time to have a good old chin wag but not wonder where the food was. We were feeling so happy and well fed that we ordered another bottle of wine - oh dear!

We took a while to decide whether we wanted dessert or not, and in the end went for two between three of us. We shared the Pannacotta with Summer Fruit Coulis and Bannofee Pie. The Pannacotta was a large dome with a lashings of coulis. The texture was smooth and worked perfectly with the tartness of the fruit. The bannofee pie was pure cream with a bit of banana and toffee sandwiched between the biscuit base. It was very naughty and very nice.

The total was £104.00 including service, which isn't bad for a celebrity chef's restaurant, three courses, excellent food and damn-near perfect service. The only minus was the lack of atmosphere. But I'm sure on a Saturday night, when it's fully booked, the place is magic.

The three of us tottered very merrily through the deluge to Piccadilly Station.

Tangawizi - Richmond Road, St Margarets - 5/10

The other night, the Bear and I tried out an Indian restaurant down the road that has come in for some pretty high praise. Tangawizi - which means ginger in Swahili - was awarded the Michelin Bib Gourmand award 2007, 2008 and 2009, and garnered rave reviews from Time Out, Good Food Guide etc. Seeing as it is practically on our doorstep, we decided it would be rude not to give it a go.

We didn't get off to a good start. Earlier in the day we'd book a table for two, but about an hour before our meal, my parents and sister said they fancied coming. So I rang the restaurant to see whether this would be possible. They told me it was probably not, but they'd ring me back in ten minutes and let me know for sure. Good old Mum and Dad decided it wasn't worth the hassle, so I rang back and said we'd just keep the original booking. Ten minutes later I get a call to say that they did have a table for five. By this point I thought there's no point complicating matters further, so I accepted the table for five and off we toddled to the restaurant.

We got there, and there was only a table for two. Brilliant. Two different members of staff had spoken to me, but not to each other apparently. Poor Mum, Dad and Little Sis were banished to the Greek Restaurant over the road.

Although this might seem trivial, it indicated a lack of communication between the front of house staff which didn't bode well.

We were taken to our table, which was right at the back of the restaurant, crammed into the smallest space I've ever seen. The whole restaurant is pretty pokey, and I didn't feel very relaxed at all. The decoration is ultra modern, dark, purple and sensuous, complete with a nod to traditional curry houses in the form of purple and orange jewel encrusted flock wallpaper. The cramped space would be more tolerable if there wasn't the constant thud of bad house music in the background. Give me some soothing sitar any day over that! It felt like we were eating in a sleazy nightclub not a top notch Indian.

The staff are all dressed in traditional North Indian clothes to go with the traditional North Indian menu, and our waiter was very poite. We gave our order and waited for the food.

Our starters came in record time. I went for the Vegetarian Platter to start, which included Mango Paneer (cheese), Samosas, Fresh Mint Tikki (potato cakes), and Mixed Vegetable Pakora. It was nicely presented and the flavours were bursting. The dish was served with a trio of sauces, chilli, tamarind and mint which complimented the dish beautifully. This starter was probably the highlight of the meal.

The Bear went for the Duck Tikki, which is Tandoori roasted duck. It was a pretty small portion for the £10 price tag and was woefully overcooked. Poor Bear.

Our plates were cleared and we waited for a full two minutes - yes two minutes - before our mains arrived. "How on earth did we last such a long time between courses?" I hear you ask. Do not despair. During this short time, they managed to serve us, what was meant to be an Amuse Bouche, but was in fact a shot of Mango Lassi. This would have been a nice addition to the meal, had we not both been drinking a glass of mango lassi at the time. If you're going to give out Amuse Bouche in between courses, at least make sure they're blooming amusing!

Service can be bad for a multitude of reasons, one of which is too speedy delivery. At a restaurant like this you expect an understanding that a meal is not just a necessity, but something to be savoured and enjoyed over time. Otherwise, we might just as well stay home and eat in front of Eastenders. TWO MINUTES. Outrageous.

The food was tasty though. I went for the Goanese Prawn Curry, which is cooked in coconut, chilli and lime. The sauce was gloopy and perfect for gathering up in a decent chunk of garlic nan. There was a generous number of prawns, and I was fit to burst once finished.

The Bear went for the Chilli Lamb Kadhai, which is pieces of spring lamb cooked with onions, peppers and fresh green chillies. It was good. He ate it. We had a Dahl Tadka to share, which was average.

We were too full for desert, but were offered some Kulfi pieces with the bill, which was a nice touch.

Here's the part that hurts. The total bill came to £56.85 without service and with no alcohol. Now, I would happily pay this much for a curry if everything was perfect. But the service and atmosphere really did spoil things. We felt like herded cattle, moved on as quickly as possible to make way for the next cash cow. The food was good. But I've had similarly good curries for much less - once such place being Joy in Surbiton. I shan't be going back to Tangawizi. It didn't live up to the hype for me. But by all means give it a go. Maybe we just caught them on a bad night.

I wish I'd been banished to the Greek Restaurant over the road with the rest of the clan.