The Sitar 2

Team Rating

Mick’s Review

Well I was looking forward to this one, as having previously visited this establishment twice in the last 18 months, and as I'd bombed out the previous week with a swollen mouth and had forgotten that Harry had arranged to dash back from Watford for which I had forgotten but as Mother Nature has a way of stepping in and saying "NO" what could I do, of course I apologized but still felt like a shit.

So Harry,Maurice and I arranged to meet at The Half Moon, oh but Mick had had a shit day and decided to start early in regards to having a beer, and them mis reading a text message from Maurice saying he was walking through and heading for The Half Moon - oh pooh my fault again, ah we finished me beer met Harry and headed off to meet Maurice, after a beer we headed off to the Sitar 2, once we'd sat down we ordered  some poppadom's and bits, and some Kingfisher lager, after looking at the menu we all choose our particular feast's and ordered. Whilst starting to eat the poppadom's we noticed we had not received the statutory "Mint" sauce to go with the poppadom's, so we advised the waiter and it duly arrived.

I ordered the "Spicy Crispy Duck, marinated Duck meat  in breadcrumbs and then for a main meal, I ordered "King Prawn Pathia", so we ploughed through the poppadom's, having a good chat and lots of laughs. The starters arrived, I was really surprised as I had decided to have a change from my usual starter, the starter arrived, nicely presented and also, plentiful, and with a little side salad. I was   Surprised by the quantity of the starter, nice large bread battered pieces of Duck ( Maurice commented that it looked dry), it was far from dry, it was plentiful, tasteful and very enjoyable.

The main meal was, King Prawn Pathia (fairly moist curry, well spiced and slightly sweet and  hot with coconut, this was dished up along with a pilau rice and side dish of Sag Pannier.

When dished up, along with the pilau rice it looked nicely presented and plentiful.

I was truly amazed with the quantity and amount of King Prawns, after sampling the delicious tastes of this meal, I offered a sample to Maurice and Harry, Maurice duly accepted the invite and helped himself to a couple of King Prawns, the meal was delicious, tasty, plentiful and very very enjoyable. Overall I think Maurice, Harry and myself had a very enjoyable evening. The staff were very friendly, helpful and smartly dressed.

Food - 4.5

The Venue/Service - 4

Value for money - 4

Harry’s Main

Well I was really hungry before this one, so was raring to go as we had a pre-curry pint in the Half Moon. I have eaten in the Sitar 2 a few times before and quite like the place on the basis of my previous visits. We arrived and were duly seated. The Sitar has a pleasant interior and feels comfortable as we ordered and received some poppadums and the obligatory pint of Kingfisher. The relishes in the Sitar are a bit different, instead of the usual quartet of mango chutney, chopped onions, raita and lime pickle in the Sitar you get a trio of mango chutney, a sweet onion mix and a sweet coconut orange coloured thing, the latter really isn’t to my taste. We asked for and got some raita so not really a problem, but the default offered does seem an odd combination, at least to me.

For starter I went for the fish bora as I had decided to go for a dish I hadn’t had before. Not knowing what to expect, this was a seafood medley in a smallish flat patty, lightly spiced. I would be hard pressed to say exactly what fish was in the dish, I guess mainly salmon. It was quite palatable and not a bad starter, I would have it again, however if you like spicy stuff then I would advise going for something else or asking them to give it a bit more oomph.

For the main I went for chicken kandari, with pilau rice and sag paneer, both shared with Mick. I have had the main dish before and really enjoyed it, described on the menu as chicken cooked with pomegranate seeds, grape juice and mint leaves. When I had this before I could discern the pomegranate, however this time it just seemed to be a fairly hot sauce. The chicken was nicely done so overall not bad, but not as good as previously, perhaps a different chef on the night. 

The service was good throughout and the surroundings are nice enough. I would and I’m sure will be back, I just hope that next time my main is more like the description on the menu.

Food 3.5

Venue/Service 4

Value for Money 3.5

Highlander, Upper Tilehouse Street, Hitchin

Team Rating

Mick's Review

The pub is very welcoming and has several beers and lagers and is nicely decorated.

Starter - Homemade Pork Pâté with Orange and Pistachio's

Accompanied by a little salad, small white onions and small gherkins also a nice lightly spiced chutney and a warn Quotidian roll. I was amazed to see such a generous portion for this starter and I was not disappointed, the pâté tasted really nice and was very flavorsome with the salad, chutney and pickles, this was a very delicious starter.

Main meal: Carribean Jerk rice.

Again once it had been served this was a nice generous serving, with the initial first few mouthfuls the flavors really hit the taste buds, it was a really tasteful and enjoyable meal, and there was just the right amount of sauce to go with the rice.

Dessert: Treacle Sponge Pudding with Cinnemon Custard

As with the starter and main meal this was very well presented and above all this pudding and custard were very hot and very tasty.

For the first time in 3 nights out Harry's choice of meal WAS on the menu, which sadly for me was a disappointment as I had had a small trophy lined up to present to Harry for what could have been his Hatrick. A really excellent evening out, very enjoyable meal a good rapport with the staff who were all very friendly and helpful and would recommend this venue and would advise people to book in advance, just to make sure of your place. I will certainly revisit the Highlander in the future.

Service and venue: 4.5/5

Food and drink: 4.5/5

Value for money: 5/5

  Maurice's Review

Venue: The Highlander is on Tilehouse street and I drive past it most nights on the way home from work and every time I look through the window I think “I must try that place”. So I was a happy boy to have pulled this one out the hat as my first choice. 

I met the guys there and was pleasantly surprised when I walked in, a nice classic looking pub with mostly wooden decor. Very busy for midweek, and a mixture of punters from young to old, wide selection of beers, lagers and wines at a reasonable price. 

The only real disappointing thing about it was the tables were very close together, so you didn't really feel very private, also as the evening progressed it got darker and darker to the point it was very hard to see your food. Although I would add this was mostly due to the location of the table.

Starter: Fresh Devon Crab with Lime Mayo £7.95

The starter was a little slow coming out, but they were very busy, but when it arrived it was well worth waiting for. Presentation was stunning, and my god what a lot of crab. The moment I took my first mouthful the freshness of the crab was obvious. The lime was subtle but there. Accompanied by a fresh warm roll and the lemon mayonnaise, this served as a great accompaniment. I was very impressed. 

Jerk Chicken with Coconut Rice

This was a gamble. I didn’t know what to expect and was going to play it safe and go for a steak, but I decided to try something new. Funny thing was I saw the server come out with our meals and spot are table had yet to be cleared. He very professionally kept walking past went around the bar and back in the kitchen before coming out and clearing the table. That may sound daft but I have had people clear and serve at the same time before, ANNOYING! So top marks for being a pro.

The food looked great (from what I could see in the light). The first mouthful was “A taste sensation” to quote Peter Kay. A whole burst of flavours, from toms, coconut to spices and nuts. A nice generous serving and the flavour had a few surprises throughout, but overall very good.

Homemade Chocolate Brownie

Another lovely looking dish and the brownies were nice and warm and soft and gooey, just how it should be. With a nice white chocolate melting out at certain points, it was a delight. I was worried that it was going to beat me because I only went for a dessert to see if they could manage 3 superb courses, and it’s fair to say they did!

Service and venue: 4/5

Food and drink: 4.5/5

Value for money: 4/5

Harry's Review

The Highlander is a traditional pub building on the Luton Road out of Hitchin, so just outside the town centre. A few years back the pub was tastefully refurbished and re-launched with a gastro theme. The pub is cheerful and clean and you do feel comfortable in there if eating, it is not really a drinking only pub at busy food serving times.

I arrived at roughly the same time as the other two and ordered a round of Greene King IPA, Greene King Mild and Kronenbourg 1664 for the lager lout Maurice. I was pleasantly surprised to get change from £10 so the beer is very reasonably priced and my GK Mild was also a nice pint.

The place appeared to be busy for a Wednesday and the barman confirmed this. We did get a table and decided to go for starter and main. I went for the paté and duck leg comfit.

The paté was homemade pork, pistachio and orange – an interesting combination!  It came served with hot roll from the Hitchin Quotidian bakery, a small dressed leaf and cherry tomato salad and a couple of pots containing pickled gherkins and onions in one a mildly spicy chutney in the other. This combination was quite delicious and I cannot find anything to knock about this dish except that of I was doing it I would have used a sweet chutney, but that is merely personal taste and in no way detracts from the quality of the dish.

The service for the starter was a little slow but this is forgivable given that it was busy and clearly quality had not been compromised for speed.

My first choice main (on for once!) arrived soon after the starter. The duck leg was beautifully cooked and fell off the bone. The duck was served on a bed of sautéed potatoes mushrooms and some other stuff dressed in a thick jus. 

And here a bit of a whinge – I’m all for a bit of subdued lighting, but as the sun went down it was so dark on our table it was difficult to see what you were eating so I can’t give you a more detailed description. The whole dish was very rich and possibly could have benefited from the veg being a bit lighter, but that is again just personal taste – I certainly could not fault the quality.

Feeling a bit stuffed as the portion sizes of the starter and main were generous I wouldn't normally go for a pud, but we all three decided to go for it as the first two courses had been so good. 

I went for seasonal fruit clafoutis, which was a pastry, infused with fruit that was probably apple with a big scoop of tangy raspberry sorbet on top. This again was very nice and despite being reasonably full from the first two courses, I managed to finish with no problem.

The food bill was just under £25 per head, I think excellent value for money given the high standard and generous portion sizes.
In summary a thoroughly enjoyable meal with a couple of pints of good beer in a pleasant environment with good company. I would definitely recommend the Highlander on the strength of our visit and I think that booking would be advisable. I will certainly be back!

Service and venue: 4.5/5
Food and drink: 5/5
Value for money: 5/5

Won Kei, Soho, London

  Out of Towner Review

This is one of our Out of Town reviews, sometimes if we eat outside of Hitchin but feel the place is worth a mention it makes our Out of Towner section. However there still must be 2 of use reviewing it. In this case Maurice and Mick

Total Team Rating

We love this place, not sure why! From the outside it’s nothing special, and when you walk in the ground floor looks like a cheap cafe, and the greeting of a mean Chinese chef shouting how many, before promptly pointing at the stairs can be unnerving. Once you have walked up the stairs of what gives flashbacks of school corridors and enter the restaurant its pot luck where you sit. It doesn’t matter how busy the place is you often find yourself sitting on a table with a bunch of strangers, I used to find this unnerving but now it’s all just part of the fun. With a pot of complimentary Chinese tea dumped in front of you, you’re left to choose your food. But be warned if your order to much, they can often refuse to serve you. The menu is a wide selection of your old favourites like Sweet and Sour Chicken to the more rare dishes like Deep Fried Intestine. We are not going to comment on every dish we had we will be here all day, so this review will be a summary of courses.

Starters

Half a crispy aromatic duck, (or as we like to call it “Skin up duck”), this was great, superbly cooked, and just the right level of crispiness.
Sticky Thai Spare Ribs: Great sweet sauce, but not very meaty
Prawn Crackers, these have to be done, but with their house chilli flake oil, which just blows your head right off.

Main Course

Crispy Chilli Beef with Egg Fried Rice, this was a sweet and sticky spicy flavour but very tasty, one of my favs and you can’t go wrong. Sliced Belly pork with Pok Choi salad, this is not for everyone as a cold meat dish, but I love the crunch of the crackling. King Prawns in Mushroom sauce, not a great deal of colour to this, but a strong taste, but probably the more disappointing dish.

This was accompanied by two bottles of house red, well it was a lads day out so why not.

Value for money: Well the bill was £76 for 2, but this did include half a duck and 2 bottles of red wine, the only other thing I would say is the portions are huge. 

Service and venue: 2/5
Food and drink: 4/5
Value for money: 4/5