East at Pudsey
A couple of nights ago we went to East in Pudsey ( http://www.eastbarloungegrill.com/ ) for CS’s off-to-Africa farewell meal. Both the bar and restaurant are nicely urban and neutral in decor, the service is efficient, polite and unobtrusive, and the menu offers a mix of old favourites and dishes I’d not come across before.
I had fish pakora followed by a murgh pocharga, which falls into the dishes not come across before category. The fish pakora was OK, if a little chewy… On arrival, the murgh pocharga looked suspiciously like chicken in Campbell’s condensed cream of tomato soup and, being largely tomato- and cream-based, tasted not dissimilar too. However, it was a pleasant, mildly-spiced dish which I did enjoy. Not sure I’d order it again, but I’m glad I tried it out!
Mike had lamb samosas and the chicken dahi; the samosas were “amazing” and the accompanying salad “very tasty”. The chicken dahi was also “very good”. Mike’s only complaint is that there was far too much food for a Mike to cope with. Half a poppadom and 2 lamb samosas are surely enough for any man… In fact, we both only managed about a quarter of our main course, but the staff were perfectly happy to pack it up for us to take home and sustain ourselves with for the rest of the week…. In fact, I’d even go so far as to say mine developed in flavour for keeping overnight! 
The piano bar is an interesting touch, though not exactly conducive to conversation… Personally, I found it a bit more relaxing when the good old chill out CD came on.
Price: the bill worked out at £21 a head for poppadoms, a starter, a main course, a couple of sundries & a few drinks each = extremely reasonable!
Brownie points: they serve non-alcoholic Cobra; the ambience is chilled & refined (at least, it is on a Wednesday night between 7.30 - 9.30pm…)
Red cards: it was freezing! The only thing stopping me from keeping my coat on all night was fear of dragging my sleeves through the raita.
Overall impression: extremely pleasant and bar and restaurant, good value for money, friendly atmosphere, good food and drink - would definitely return.
Tags: curries, Food, Indian, restaurants
