Address: Carlton House, 18 Albert Square, City Centre

Phone number: 0161 834 7092

Rating: 4/5

Visited by the Curry Night on: Wednesday 3rd December 2008

Website: www.rajdoot.co.uk

General comments: It's been around for a long time, but has been rarely visited by spaceman, but no longer.  Having never inspired, it lately impressed the Curry Night crew, and so future visits may be more frequent.

Wednesday 3rd December 2008

"First impressions - nice venue, medium-sized, friendly service, traditional decor.  We booked a table in advance but they had us waiting for our table for around half an hour in the reception area, but we were able to sit down and order drinks, so it wasn't too bad. Poppadoms were very tasty (although only 1 each) and the accompanying onions, mango chutney & mint yoghurt were nice.  My shish kebab starter was delicious, although it took a while to arrive (maybe 20 minutes or so after being seated) given that we pre-ordered whilst in the reception area.  My main course was a chicken bhuna - very flavoursome, with lots of chicken, and a good-sized portion.  Rice and naans were good too, although there was only type of rice on the menu (pilau).  Also, the naans were small and we were only provided with about half per person [anyone could have ordered more...].  The cost wasn't too bad at around £20 each (including drinks) - cheaper than the trendier/modern curry houses.  No mints/lollies/after-eights or hot towels were provided after the meal.  All-in-all - nice place, nice people, nice food, nice atmosphere and reasonably-priced - I would definitely go back there again.  Good choice, spaceman!"

"I must admit I was pleasantly surprised by Rajdoot.  For some reason I though it would be a bit of dive, but it was great.  The food was lovely: I had a Rajdoot platter to start (mixture of tandoori chicken and kebabs) and then Makhan chicken.  Normally I don't have much of the curry sauce but the Makhan sauce was creamy and delicious - I couldn't get enough!  After inspecting the toilets (very clean), I was struggling to find anything to criticise.  Although the decor does not have the "wow" effect like EastzEast and is old-fashioned rather than the modern Shimlas and Akbars, it did look like it has seen a lick of paint recently and was very clean.  All in all, it exceeded my expectations and I would definitely come back.  I'd have to give it 4 out of 5 (point deducted for lack of lollies/mints [harsh])."
 

"Rather stingy on the pre-starter course, with dips at a real premium [agreed, but probably best that we don't stuff up on poppadoms] - I had to steal some from the next zone along, which is a bad sign.  The starter - Tandoori Chicken - was fairly small too, given town centre prices.  It was quite nice to the taste, but next time I'll go for something less almost-entirely-comprised-of-bone.  I don't want to be hypocritical, since as a meal overall the portions felt about right, but I do buy a starter to enjoy the taste and it took more disecting than tasting.  The main - Chicken Martin Jol [um, the Nepalese speciality Chicken Jhol]- was nice.  Spicy without being too aggressive.  This would have been helped if the naans hadn't been so limited - I certainly couldn't find any garlic ones; just a weird pistachio peshwari one which made me feel a bit yuk [agreed on the taste of peshwari but, again, more could have been ordered at a later stage - people seem to manage ok when beer runs out].  The main attraction was tasty, interesting and a pleasing size, but the supporting cast (food-wise) was a bit duff.  Draft Cobra (I think? [yup]) was delicious, and meant I never felt I was dining in a brown glass bottle bank, so beverages were good stuff.  The decor, I rather liked - curry-house-cum-spa-complex.  Relative to other central venues, it was far, far, far better than Karim's House of Farce, and would give the new, gruff Admiral Akbar's a run for its money (but would still probably lose, on food grounds), but EastzEast definitely beats this place.  In summary, a great outer shell surrounding a layer of arse surrounding a very pleasing core.  A bit like the earth, if you were really keen on giant balls of nickel and iron under intense pressure, and less keen on lava [er, what]."