Bombay Bicycle Club Update

Back in November last year I commented upon the Bombay Bicycle Club.

Well since then I've ordered from them a few more times and have also recommended them to friends who have all been very positive about them.

I did encounter a bit of a problem with an order the other day. They called me to let me know that they wouldn't be able to give me one of the things that I asked for. While unfortunate that's about the best that you can hope that a take away will do in such a situation so it's nice to know that they handle such things well.

Anyway they've certainly become my take away of choice and I think I've swayed a few other households as well so I'd say that there well worth a look. If you know of a better delivery service do let me know...

Full details about them can be found in the original review here

The Bombay Bicycle Club

The Bombay Bicycle Club chain of Indian Restaurants has recently opened a take-away branch in Greenwich, they're meant to be pretty famous but I'd only heard of them in passing before and didn't know that much about them.

Recently I've begun to feel a bit let down by my usual delivery Indian, the Coriander in Westombe Park. It's just felt like their standards were slipping and things just weren't as tasty or as well presented as they used to be.

So after I had a leaflet popped through my door from the Bombay Bicycle Club I decided to give them a go and I'm pleased to report that we really enjoyed our dinner, we enjoyed it so much we had another one the following night too.

The best part of the experience for me was that you can order online where a complete menu is displayed, this is especially useful for me as I often lose menus. You go to their website and chose what you want and then select a delivery time. Both of my orders turned up in the selected half hour slot and were still hot enough to eat without a brief spell in the microwave.

The dishes that we've had have been tasty and one in particular, the Lasuni Murg, was nicely spicy but was still flavoursome. Many lesser curry houses will just overload a spicy curry and attempt to napalm your tastebuds into hiding but not the Bombay Bicycle Club.

The only negative thing I can comment upon is that I found the Naan bread to be a bit too similar to the ones you buy in supermarkets. They had that slightly floury texture where as I like mine to be bubbly and ever so slightly doughy so you get that lovely sensation as you tear at it.

Price wise it is also a bit more expensive that other places seem to be, the Lamb Biryani (a common price thermometer for me) was £9.00. However considering that I got easy online ordering, "club card" style reward points, delivery at the time requested, hot food and it all being very tasty I think that price jump is worth paying.

Two thumbs up and a new favourite Curry House from the Charlton Average Household!

The Details
Tel: 0845 478 8214
Web: http://www.thebombaybicycleclub.co.uk
192 Trafalgar Road
Greenwich
London
SE10 9TZ

The Charlton Take Away, Indian and Bangladeshi

It's the Mobo awards down at the O2 and there's football on the tele, so I did neither and stayed at home with a curry and a rather nice pint of beer.

Years ago when I moved here a friend, who used to live close by, told me about a take away that was meant to be very good. It was the Charlton Take Away in Wellington Gardens that she was talking about. I took a look at it and decided, for some reason, that it looked a bit dodgy and never went there.

A couple of weeks ago they popped a new menu through my door, so I thought I really should give them a go. Tonight was the night.

I popped around there and ordered a Chicken Jalfrezzi with a garlic naan and pilau rice.

The Jalfrezzi was nice, better than average I'd say. However it was in a really thick sauce, which struck me as being a bit odd somehow. Tasty, but not tasty. Just thick.

The rice was unfortunately rather bland, it looked like it had been bleached with the colours in it faded.

The naan was good though.

I'm probably making it all sound worse than it was, it was good. It wasn't badly priced either, all that I had came to £9.

In the end I didn't think that it was as nice as The Coriander though. However the Coriander is a touch more expensive and I can walk to the Charlton Take Away to collect my order myself, swings and round-a-bouts.

I'm also left wondering if the foil tins, as used by the Charlton Take Away, are any more environmentally friendly than the plastic pots used by the Coriander. Does anyone know?

A final conclusion? A wavering thumb that's hedging towards pointing up enough for me to want to try them again some time.

The Coriander Indian Restaurant

I get a lot of take away menus popped through my door, most of them go straight into the recycling. However one did catch my eye, it looked colourful and well printed on good paper. A closer look revealed it to be either a restaurant I'd had a special meal in several years ago or a new that has taken it over.

So I gave it a go.

A couple of times.

I was pleased, so was Ms. Charlton Above Average.

The service on the phone has been good, the first time even warning me that I couldn't use the voucher that I hadn't got around to mentioning yet as it was only valid in the week.

Delivery was prompt, well within the stated time window both times.

Presentation was good. Just little things like having a sprinkle of chopped herbs on everything. Also it comes in all plastic pots which are easy to wash out and recycle, I never feel able to recycle the cardboard lids that other places use, they get terribly stained and smelly.

The mint raitha that comes with the papadoms was nice and not some bright artificial looking colour.

The meals themselves looked, smelled and tasted good. They weren't as brightly coloured as I've often seen so I suspect they've held their hands back on the colouring side, which is good. One of the things I tried was the Chicken Jalfrezi which is something I've had in many places and there's was one of the best. Spicey but not overpoweringly so, you could still taste the other herbs and spices. The lamb that they do seems to be good quality cuts, not fatty and gristly.

So all told very good indeed, I think I might have found my new favourite take away. The prices are a little bit above what I used to pay but I feel like I'm getting something better for the price and it's still not what I'd call "high".

Two thumbs up from Charlton.

The Details
Tel: 020 8858 7878
http://www.thecoriander.co.uk (doesn't appear to be working yet)
1A-3 Station Crescent
Westcombe Park
Blackheath
London
SE3 7EQ