Situated on Radford road just down from the Gala Bingo is this fairly unassuming take away which has been serving the community for about 25 years. Its owner, not a resident of Coventry, but a Brummie makes the daily journey down the A45 to ensure the residents of Coventry are well served for quality takeaway food.
Now I'm a bit biased as I've been going to this place for about 12 years and it is my regular choice when we have a takeaway curry but the food usually hits the mark.
The style is typical Indian takeaway but with a Bangladesh slant, the food is fresh and always tasty and freshly prepared.
There's not a whole lot to say really about the menu which is probably about as standard as an Indian take away menu gets, all the usuals are there and anything that's not there is probably made up by your local restaurant, or known as something else.
The food is freshly prepared to order, and can take about 20 minutes or so to be made for you if you just walk in and order. The welcome is always friendly and polite and now freshly redecorated the interior is pleasant and boast a large screen TV to help the wait pass.
Parking can be a bit of an issue at weekends but you should find something within 50 yards of the door but in the week you should be able to park right outside.
As I said this is my 'local' and as such I am a regular, but that's the thing, week in week out you see the same faces on a Saturday evening (my usually take away night) and I've been going for a long time, which to my mind only means one thing, people fins this place and stick with it because its safe and you always know what to expect. I've seen lots of other take aways open in Coundon and Kersley since I've been coming here, I've tried them all and somehow I gravitate back 'home' to this place. It's a safe choice, not spectacular, but a known quantity, consistent every time.
On this particular occasion it was a Chicken Tikka Biriyani, it's my usual, with a Keema Naan, always a good bet (the Naans can be excellent, but also I've had a few that needed 5 minutes in the oven at home when it was particularly busy). The owners are incredibly flexible in their wish to satisfy the customers, I've heard all manner of weird and wonderful requests made of them over the years, none of which have been greeted with anything but the confirmation that it's 'no problem'. One of the most interesting was when someone asked for their curry to be cooked 'authentic style' with less ghee, this was 'no problem' and the customer was back in there at the same time as me the following Saturday so I am guessing they were pleased with their 'authentic' curry.
In summary the Rose of Bengal is a really good takeaway which prides itself on freshly prepared, generous portions and tasty food. The pricing is also good with prices typically 25% less than the takeout prices of places like The Mint, Rupali or Mumbai Blue. The only two criticisms I would have is that the menu could do with some updating to bring in a 'freshness' to the place, or to provide something a bit different, I don't think I've seen anything new go on the menu in all the time I've been going there, I think they were one of the first selling the famous 'balti' in Coventry (the owner lives in Birmingham so I think he imported it quite quickly) and I'd put good money on that being the last real change on the menu. Secondly some of the dishes do come with an obligatory film of grease on the top, which is easily soaked off with kitchen towel, but I really don't think there is a need for that much oil/fat/ghee in some of these dishes.
They have recently undertaken a much needed refurbishment of the front of house which has made all the difference to the appearance of the place. I've found nothing within Coundon/Radford or Kersley yet to lure me away form this place on a regular basis.
So the scores are as follows:
Service 4/5
Speed 3/5
Food 4/5
Price/Value 4.5/5
Front of house appearance 4/5 (this would have been 2 a few months ago)
Accessibility 4/5
Overall: 23.5/30
So if you want to check them out you can find them at:
260 Radford Road
Coventry
CV6 3BU
Tel: 024 7659 7307
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Sunday, 16 May 2010
Sunday, 9 May 2010
Pubali Takeway (or-leave- it-away)
Last Saturday night (1st May) my wife and I decided we would try the Pubali take-away in Allesley Park. I had noticed it when I had previously visited the already reviewed and recommended Allesley House Chinese Takeaway which is situated right next door to Pubali in the Westmede Centre and thought we would have to give it a try.
Funny thing was on a previous visit to the Allesley House I had heard a fellow patron say that the Allesley House was always full whilst the 'Indian' [Pubali] was always empty, I was about to find out why.....
First impressions upon entering were mixed, the greeting was friendly enough but the rest was not good, I almost turned around and left before I had been noticed by the guy behind the counter but once I had been spotted a hasty retreat was difficult, besides that I was very hungry and didn't want to have to travel a couple of miles to another takeaway. The decor was very dated, the place really needs a bit of money spending on it desperately in order to make it look clean and tidy if nothing else, the wallpaper was old and damaged, the seats although appearing generally clean had seen better days as had the counter, and the door that led from the front of house to the kitchen had to be continually closed too after someone had been through it as it didn't close on its own very well, this gave me a clear view into the kitchens on occasion, something I wish I hadn't seen when I caught a glimpse of it.
The kitchen appeared to have about 10 people in it, many of which were sitting around a table or counter in the middle eating and chatting, I hoped that they were not eating as they were cooking, but it looked to me like they were, hardly very hygienic I thought.
But by this time I had ordered and was waiting for the food to be brought out, I was in there about 10 minutes, having ordered at the counter on arrival. During my visit there were several people in an out collecting phone orders and there were a couple of delivery orders, which I think not enough takeaways in Coventry offer, after all it actually achieves a 2 fold effect, it increases your customer base as there may be people who do not want to venture out especially on dark nights and it also increases your geographic coverage. There is a real gap in the market for a quality takeaway to provide a similar quality delivery service, and people wouldn't mind paying a token fee if the food was delivered in a reasonable time and was still hot. You need to take your lead from the pizza guys.
Anyway on getting the food home I realised 2 things, the first was that they had got the order wrong and given me an additional Pilau rice, I asked for one and got two, I thought at the time it seemed more expensive than I had envisaged but didn't do the maths. The second thing I realised was that I wouldn't be going back. For me there is one absolute sin that cannot be forgiven from any kind of restaurant or takeaway however good the food may be and that is the unnecessary over use of food colouring. The food was bright red and orange, not just a bit red and Orange but blood red and brick orange, no way this could have been achieved naturally and it put me off straight away. Their takeaway menu says "We pride ourselves on our friendly service, quality, generous portions and the flavour of our home made sauces". Well let me tell you guys that the friendly service was just about friendly, the quality was not great, the generous portions were reasonably generous, the flavour was poor - even bland and the home made sauces were full of food colouring.
In Summary the owners really need to get back to basics, smarten the place up, review the menu, stop using food colouring, use quality ingredients from a quality source. I won't be going back in a hurry.
So the scores are as follows:
Service 3/5
Speed 3.5/5
Food 1.5/5
Price/Value 2/5
Front of house appearance 1/5
Accessibility 4/5
Overall: 15/30
So if you want to check them out you can find them at:
7 Westmede Centre,
Winsford Avenue
Allesley Park,
Coventry,
CV5 9AF
Tel: 024 76 677637
Web: www.pubali-indiantakeaway.co.uk
Funny thing was on a previous visit to the Allesley House I had heard a fellow patron say that the Allesley House was always full whilst the 'Indian' [Pubali] was always empty, I was about to find out why.....
First impressions upon entering were mixed, the greeting was friendly enough but the rest was not good, I almost turned around and left before I had been noticed by the guy behind the counter but once I had been spotted a hasty retreat was difficult, besides that I was very hungry and didn't want to have to travel a couple of miles to another takeaway. The decor was very dated, the place really needs a bit of money spending on it desperately in order to make it look clean and tidy if nothing else, the wallpaper was old and damaged, the seats although appearing generally clean had seen better days as had the counter, and the door that led from the front of house to the kitchen had to be continually closed too after someone had been through it as it didn't close on its own very well, this gave me a clear view into the kitchens on occasion, something I wish I hadn't seen when I caught a glimpse of it.
The kitchen appeared to have about 10 people in it, many of which were sitting around a table or counter in the middle eating and chatting, I hoped that they were not eating as they were cooking, but it looked to me like they were, hardly very hygienic I thought.
But by this time I had ordered and was waiting for the food to be brought out, I was in there about 10 minutes, having ordered at the counter on arrival. During my visit there were several people in an out collecting phone orders and there were a couple of delivery orders, which I think not enough takeaways in Coventry offer, after all it actually achieves a 2 fold effect, it increases your customer base as there may be people who do not want to venture out especially on dark nights and it also increases your geographic coverage. There is a real gap in the market for a quality takeaway to provide a similar quality delivery service, and people wouldn't mind paying a token fee if the food was delivered in a reasonable time and was still hot. You need to take your lead from the pizza guys.
Anyway on getting the food home I realised 2 things, the first was that they had got the order wrong and given me an additional Pilau rice, I asked for one and got two, I thought at the time it seemed more expensive than I had envisaged but didn't do the maths. The second thing I realised was that I wouldn't be going back. For me there is one absolute sin that cannot be forgiven from any kind of restaurant or takeaway however good the food may be and that is the unnecessary over use of food colouring. The food was bright red and orange, not just a bit red and Orange but blood red and brick orange, no way this could have been achieved naturally and it put me off straight away. Their takeaway menu says "We pride ourselves on our friendly service, quality, generous portions and the flavour of our home made sauces". Well let me tell you guys that the friendly service was just about friendly, the quality was not great, the generous portions were reasonably generous, the flavour was poor - even bland and the home made sauces were full of food colouring.
In Summary the owners really need to get back to basics, smarten the place up, review the menu, stop using food colouring, use quality ingredients from a quality source. I won't be going back in a hurry.
So the scores are as follows:
Service 3/5
Speed 3.5/5
Food 1.5/5
Price/Value 2/5
Front of house appearance 1/5
Accessibility 4/5
Overall: 15/30
So if you want to check them out you can find them at:
7 Westmede Centre,
Winsford Avenue
Allesley Park,
Coventry,
CV5 9AF
Tel: 024 76 677637
Web: www.pubali-indiantakeaway.co.uk
Saturday, 1 May 2010
Taybarns
It was a busy time for dining out that weekend, to celebrate yet another family Birthday we were invited to go to Taybarns for Sunday lunch last Sunday (25th April), I've only every been once before and my overwhelming memory was the disgusting Tomato sauce they use, upon first tasting it I thought it was off, second taste confirmed that it was not off, just rank!
Anyway I decided on this occasion I would steer clear of the tomato sauce and so I was looking forward to going again to see what had changed in the 18 months since I'd previously been. Taybarn's in Coventry is located on the Cross Point Business Park, at Junction 2 of the M6 right next to the Showcase cinema. That means its easy to get to with plenty of free parking, just what you need for a leisurely Sunday lunch.
What I do like about Taybarns is the distinctive building, it's nice to see something that doesn't look like it was designed by Lego engineers to be installed in 20 minutes from a flat pack and looks well built. The actual decor inside is quite nice as well and it is fairly well laid out, if not a little cramped in terms of the sheer number of tables they have shoe horned into the building, it seems a bit over the top to have quite this many tables, especially as for a lot of our meal the section where we were seated was only about 60% full at most. The other thing that I like is that the front of house staff seem incredibly friendly, always willing to help and look after any issues you may have. Some of the staff behind the counter could do with learning a thing of two from the front of house staff.
Upon arrival the staff were welcoming, although we did queue for about 10 minutes to get served at the tills and be allowed into the dining area, there were only a few people in front of us and the place wasn't full by any means, so I'm not sure why this was. What wasn't quite as welcoming was the smell of grease in the entrance area, the smell was overwhelming and made me feel quite sick which somewhat killed my appetite.
We were seated at the far end of the seating area in a quiet section, as we had prebooked a table (normally you just pick a table), it was away from the chaotic main area and I actually quite liked this quieter area, it made the place feel a lot smaller than it actually is and quieter, although there is no getting away from the background hum of activity and canteen like atmosphere.
The selection is great and really cannot be faulted, from a salad bar to a full roast dinner and most things in between, they had burgers, several types of curry, roast chicken pieces, soup and bread rolls, and a selection of 4 or 5 desserts including some kind of sponge pudding, Carrot Cake, Chocolate cake and Cheese cake (they are big on cakes it would seem), and all the extras to go with them like cream, ice-cream, custard and chocolate sauce.
The issue here is quality, I decided as it was Sunday lunchtime I would go for the roast dinner, I had Turkey, there were 2 meats and I think the other one was gammon, there was a selection of a bout 4 vegetables, including cauliflower cheese, carrots, as well as roast potatoes, new potatoes and Yorkshire puddings, plus other things I forget. The moment I tasted the first mouthful I was transported back 25 years to school dinners, that's the quality level you are getting from most things here, and so please go with that in mind. The selection is varied but the quality never gets above school canteen levels in any area. Whilst you may say well what's wrong with that I should remind you that if you took a family of 4, with 2 children under 10 you would be paying out around £26 plus drinks for Sunday lunch, this doesn't sound very cheap to me, especially with the quality of food on offer.
Pricing is £8.92 per head for adults, plus £2 for your soft drink (with unlimited refills)at Sunday lunch times, pricing in the day time in the week is less, but so is the selection and evening pricing is different again, check before going.
In summary I don't think I'd go back again in a hurry, food never gets above canteen standards, looks freshly cooked but I'd guess most of it was frozen to start with, mixed staff performance - those behind the counter were generally poor. So if your appetite is big and your expectations on food standard not high then this could be your ideal venue, if you want quality cooked food at a good price then I'd look elsewhere.
So the scores are as follows:
Service 2/5 (10 minute wait on arriving & mixed staff performance)
Speed 2.5/5 (dishes often empty on buffet)
Food 2.5/5 (canteen style at best)
Price/Value 3/5 (definitely a quantity over quality offering)
Front of house appearance 4.5/5
Accessibility 4/5
Overall: 18.5/30
So if you want to check them out you can find them all their details at:
http://www.taybarns.com/home/location-finder/restaurants/coventry
Anyway I decided on this occasion I would steer clear of the tomato sauce and so I was looking forward to going again to see what had changed in the 18 months since I'd previously been. Taybarn's in Coventry is located on the Cross Point Business Park, at Junction 2 of the M6 right next to the Showcase cinema. That means its easy to get to with plenty of free parking, just what you need for a leisurely Sunday lunch.
What I do like about Taybarns is the distinctive building, it's nice to see something that doesn't look like it was designed by Lego engineers to be installed in 20 minutes from a flat pack and looks well built. The actual decor inside is quite nice as well and it is fairly well laid out, if not a little cramped in terms of the sheer number of tables they have shoe horned into the building, it seems a bit over the top to have quite this many tables, especially as for a lot of our meal the section where we were seated was only about 60% full at most. The other thing that I like is that the front of house staff seem incredibly friendly, always willing to help and look after any issues you may have. Some of the staff behind the counter could do with learning a thing of two from the front of house staff.
Upon arrival the staff were welcoming, although we did queue for about 10 minutes to get served at the tills and be allowed into the dining area, there were only a few people in front of us and the place wasn't full by any means, so I'm not sure why this was. What wasn't quite as welcoming was the smell of grease in the entrance area, the smell was overwhelming and made me feel quite sick which somewhat killed my appetite.
We were seated at the far end of the seating area in a quiet section, as we had prebooked a table (normally you just pick a table), it was away from the chaotic main area and I actually quite liked this quieter area, it made the place feel a lot smaller than it actually is and quieter, although there is no getting away from the background hum of activity and canteen like atmosphere.
The selection is great and really cannot be faulted, from a salad bar to a full roast dinner and most things in between, they had burgers, several types of curry, roast chicken pieces, soup and bread rolls, and a selection of 4 or 5 desserts including some kind of sponge pudding, Carrot Cake, Chocolate cake and Cheese cake (they are big on cakes it would seem), and all the extras to go with them like cream, ice-cream, custard and chocolate sauce.
The issue here is quality, I decided as it was Sunday lunchtime I would go for the roast dinner, I had Turkey, there were 2 meats and I think the other one was gammon, there was a selection of a bout 4 vegetables, including cauliflower cheese, carrots, as well as roast potatoes, new potatoes and Yorkshire puddings, plus other things I forget. The moment I tasted the first mouthful I was transported back 25 years to school dinners, that's the quality level you are getting from most things here, and so please go with that in mind. The selection is varied but the quality never gets above school canteen levels in any area. Whilst you may say well what's wrong with that I should remind you that if you took a family of 4, with 2 children under 10 you would be paying out around £26 plus drinks for Sunday lunch, this doesn't sound very cheap to me, especially with the quality of food on offer.
Pricing is £8.92 per head for adults, plus £2 for your soft drink (with unlimited refills)at Sunday lunch times, pricing in the day time in the week is less, but so is the selection and evening pricing is different again, check before going.
In summary I don't think I'd go back again in a hurry, food never gets above canteen standards, looks freshly cooked but I'd guess most of it was frozen to start with, mixed staff performance - those behind the counter were generally poor. So if your appetite is big and your expectations on food standard not high then this could be your ideal venue, if you want quality cooked food at a good price then I'd look elsewhere.
So the scores are as follows:
Service 2/5 (10 minute wait on arriving & mixed staff performance)
Speed 2.5/5 (dishes often empty on buffet)
Food 2.5/5 (canteen style at best)
Price/Value 3/5 (definitely a quantity over quality offering)
Front of house appearance 4.5/5
Accessibility 4/5
Overall: 18.5/30
So if you want to check them out you can find them all their details at:
http://www.taybarns.com/home/location-finder/restaurants/coventry
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