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
