Review of Maharani Indian Cuisine

Maharani Indian Cuisine is based at 46 Norwich Road, Ipswich, IP1 2NJ - The Maharani already had to live up to some heavy competition but has a good reputation for consistently good food, so we were all hopeful. Generally the food was average to good, the Onion Bajhi's (my personal barometer) were large and fairly good, not the best I've had but certainly not the worst. Davekins had the Chicken Madras which described as "Good. Hot." and I distinctly remember beads of sweat forming, even nigglebeak struggled and was impressed by the tone of the food, though he did say it is a restaurant that generally people would go back to again and again he would not. The restaurant was very busy, and everyone seemed to be enjoying their meal, the clientele seemed to be generally middle aged and relatively conservative so we certainly stood out, we would definitely recommend that you make sure you book ahead on a Saturday night. The staff were very friendly and even supplied us with a complementary shot of baileys to finish off our meal which finished our night off perfectly.

Survey Score: Maharani Indian Cuisine: 70%

Review of The Dhaka

The Dhaka is based at 6 Orwell Place, Ipswich, IP4 1BB and has been Davekins' regular curry haunt for some time. The staff at the Dhaka are very friendly and the service is swift without being rushed, they also have the added bonus of booth's which adds a sense of privacy and cosyness. The menu has a good selection of options and all reasonably priced, the only really dissapointing thing is the food, it's not terrible but not great, the curry's all seem to be padded out with onions and weather you have a rogan josh or a madras they use the same grilled skewerd chicken. Joebeak, had the Pssanda and said it was really very nice. I went for a mild korma this time, I know most people live under the impression that mild means bland, unfortunately in this case it does, I personally believe that mild dishes should be full of flavour just without the heat. Similar to the Sonar Bangla we found that the onion bajhi's were too large and floury. So the verdict, the food is generally fairly average but the service and atmosphere make it a pleasant experience.

Survey Score: Dhaka Indian Restraunt: 75.00%

Review of Sonar Bangla Balti House

Our next stop was at Sonar Bangla 37 Woodbridge Road, Ipswich, IP4 2EA which is a stones throw from My Keralam and a vastly different restaurant. We were initially encouraged by reports of it's good reputation in the town and the fact that it has a B.Y.O policy on alcohol which is something ipswich is deffinately lacking. Our initial impression was not too impressive, the restaurant is very small and it felt a little like sitting in someone's un-lived in living room, the staff were friendly enough but largely seemed a little bored. We ordered our meals which took some time to arrive, so of course we were all starving by the time they arrived and eager to tuck in, unfortunately we all all more than a little disappointed Joebeak decided to go for the Lamb Ceylon and said it "tasted like bisto with curry powder and a touch of coconut." Niggles had similarly disappointing things to say about the Madras. Personally I like to try something simple in each restaurant, the onion bajhi, simple but oh so easy to get wrong... all I can say about Sonar's was that it was like eating a floury tennis ball. disappointing.

Survey Score: Sonar Bangla Indian Restraunt: 49%