There is no denying that one of Tom and I's favourite things to do is to eat out. We are big foodies who love to visit and try out new places as well as those tried and tested regular haunts. We eat out probably around once a month although sometimes its more depending on what we have going on. With this in mind I thought I would have a go at reviewing some of the places we go to, as our most recent meal out was at our local Indian restaurant I am dedicating my first restaurant review post to them. Let me know if you like this kind of post and if you would like to see more of them.
Tower Tandoori
Tower Tandoori has been standing on its current site in Tower Bridge Road since 1978 and its a real Bermondsey icon. You can read more about the restaurant, its history and what it offers by clicking on this link. I have been a customer for far longer than I care to remember and together Tom and I have been visiting for 18 years now. Over the years there have been a few changes, when we first used to visit the restaurant was run by the lovely Shab, while his sons could be found learning the ropes and helping out after school. Now days you will find Shab relaxing and chatting with the customers while Suhel, Emon and Russel are doing all the hard work. The décor has changed too, the restaurant is a tasteful light terracotta in colour with lots of cut work ceiling and wall lamps which create a beautiful ambience. Red leather seats and white linen clothed tables all add a touch of luxury and make Tower Tandoori a step above your usual 'curry house' which is something it is far from.
As regulars whenever we visit we are greeted and treated like family, for us this is a very important part of eating there. Its not just about going out for something to eat, its about seeing friends and supporting a local business that we care about a lot. On the night we visited we hadn't booked as it was a bit of a last minute decision to eat out but we were seated without any problems. If your party is very small you probably wont always need a reservation but if there is to be a group of you then I would highly recommend booking in advance. It was a lovely Spring evening so the front of the restaurant had been opened up to make the most of the warmer weather and let the evening sunlight shine in.
As always we started our meal with a few poppadum's, you get a mix of plain and spicy although you can opt to have just one type. They are served with a small selection of chopped onion, mango chutney and lime pickle. For drinks Tom chose a pint of Kingfisher and I had a glass of Sauvignon Blanc.
As we were trying to be a little healthier I opted for the Shatay Murgh as my main course and Tom had the Chicken Shaslik. Both these dishes come with the sauce on the side, however as both sauces are quite similar Suhel said he would arrange for my dish to come with something different. As side dishes we shared a pilau rice, spicy chickpeas and a garlic naan bread.
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| Chicken Shashlik |
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| Shatay Murgh |
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| Spiced Chickpeas |
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| Garlic Naan |
The food was delicious, very flavoursome and the portion sizes were just right, not too much and not too little. Toms meal had the sweet shashlik sauce and mine had a more spicy and sour sauce which was lovely and perfectly complimented the chicken. The Tower Tandoori naan bread is absolutely the best, I could honestly go here just for a portion of that and some spicy sauce to dip it in. If you are unsure of what to order or if you want to be adventurous and try something a bit different just let one of the staff know and they will be happy to assist you with your choices.
We didn't have a pudding as we were both stuffed after our mains and sides, despite this and the place being pretty busy we were not rushed at all and the bill only came over after we actually asked for it.
Overall we both highly recommend Tower Tandoor, its most definitely in our top 5 places to eat out when we want somewhere that is close to home. They also offer a take away service which can either be collected or home delivered, they even offer a corporate service if you have an event that you would like catered.
* This is not a AD or a sponsored post, the meal was paid for entirely by us and we have received nothing at all from Tower Tandoori for my posting this review.
