Royal Deli

Hallo there, The Royal Deli has been the curry house of choice in PE for many years. When it first opened its doors the Grinch and I were regulars and then laziness crept in and take-outs from this delicious spot became the norm however after an energizing hike we went to feed our faces at the imporium. The decor has much improved since I was last in the spot and it is looking very upmarket. The menu has also been added to which was a delight to me as the takeouts have alway been the Royal Deli special which is mutton curry with potato. So after quizzing the menu, the Grinch and I decided to share a fishcake starter. When the Grinch first mentioned fishcakes I honestly thought "Oh no what's Indian about fishcakes" Wait until you eat them. These fishcakes are H. O. T. Hot! Not for the faint hearted. You definately need to ply on the sweet chilli sauce to cool the damn things down.5 small fishcakes were served as the starter so a word of advice - share unless you want to leave off the main meal. The starter is enough to have as a bar snack and feel full enough not to need a main. For the main, Grinch went for the usual Royal Deli special - mutton curry. I venture out to try the Madras Lamb Curry. This is superb! Just meat and sauce,no potatoes or other bits. Its served with rice and pomperdoms and of course the sambals. Sambals consist of chopped banana, chopped, fresh tomato and onion mixed together, chutney and some other intersting bits apparently called chevron. Now I'm not one for pmpadoms, I find them far too oily and bland however, last night I added a hint of salt and found that they improved vastly. (maybe that was the trick of the 2nd glass of wine.) When the Grinch sampled my fare he declared it a winner and from now on the Lamb Madras would be our stample take-out. Having said that I am sure that you have deduced that the Mutton Curry did not live up to expectation and was reassigned to the medioca catagory. Do book. This place was humming yesterday. They do have a smoking section, which is where we sat. The smoking section is in the pub area so when, like last night, theres a huge crowd at a birthday bash one feels like a bit of an intruder and when they leave and you'r left sitting stock-siel-aleen it is a bit in the eyes. Next time I'll sit in the restaurant and Grinch will have to smoke the electic thingy. The evening passed plesantly. The food is good, priced perfectly. The service is efficient and friendly. The owner is hands on and that does make a differnece especially when he takes time out to chat to you. This is a place you recommend without hesitation. It does cater for those non-curry guests serving both steak and fish.