Attercliffe Road, Attercliffe, Sheffield, S9 3RE
"I ain't a salad dodger"
Date Of Review: 21/07/2008
Telephone: 01142 444 277
Date Of Review: 21/07/2008
Telephone: 01142 444 277
Well, I've found another
one. Another restaurant in Sheffield where you can enjoy a lunch time curry.
Spicy
Bites is another small Curry Cafe in the regenerated East End of the City.
It
is primarily a take-away but does have seating for 16 diners, this could
possibly be increased as there is ample free space out front to probably double
this number.
There is ample free parking in a car park immediately adjacent to
the restaurant.
Both Zaika (Chippingham Place, Attercliffe) and Spicy Bites
are located in a "safer" part of the city in comparison with Hot & Spicy and Eastern Eye.
Today I returned to Eastern Eye and
Hot & Spicy on Firth Park Road, Firth Park to take some photos that I could
then upload to these reviews. Whilst there I tried to blend in as best as I
possibly could and tried not to let anyone actually see me taking the photos. I
decided that it was best to be cautious and discreet whilst taking the photos
as it may have lead to questions being asked as to who I was and what I was
doing.
I went in to a couple of the ethnic supermarkets and purchased some
produce. The thought process was that a couple of bags of shopping from the
local supermarket would make me appear to be a local resident. Whilst I was
waiting for an opportunity to take one of the photos I leant up against a set
of roadside railings and pretended to study one of the restaurants menus.
Whilst studying the menu I saw 2 men go in to one of the two open fronted telephone
boxes outside of Hot & Spicy. One of the men pulled a big bag of what I
think was weed out of his coat and sold one of the smaller individual packets
to the other guy.
Why am I telling you this? - Well, it's just in case you do
decide to go and try a curry at either Eastern Eyes or Hot & Spicy... you will
at have a rough idea of the kind of environment you are walking in to.
In
truth if you are a bit wet behind the ears, a little gullible, a little naive
or not very street wise then Firth Park Road is probably best avoided!
I am
not implying that either Eastern Eye or Hot & Spicy are involved in any
wrong doings. The guys who did the drug deal met in the phone boxes and then
went their seperate ways.
Anyhow, back to Spicy Bites.
I spotted this restaurant after visiting Zaika on Chippingham Place last week and thought I would give it
a try.
I ordered a Chicken Madras at £3.50 and 2 Chapattis at 50p each.
I
believe the curry came from a common base pot. I saw the Chef ladle a portion
out of a big curry pot which was on the hob, in to a smaller pan in order to
make my dish.
I believe to make it in to a Madras, the chef just added a bit of
extra chili powder and chili seeds, of which there were lots.
The portion
size was good. Unfortunately as it is primarily a take-away the curry didn't
come in a balti dish, the curry was presented in one of those metallic take out
trays.
The chapatis were freshly made, were huge and of excellent quality.
The
dish contained lots of good quality breast chicken and was definitely Madras
hot.
No salad was presented with the meal and none was asked for.
When I had
finished, the proprietor asked me if the meal had been ok. I said it would have
been excellent if it had been presented with a little salad. He replied that if
I had asked for some then he would have given me some.
A little different to
the experience at Zaika last week, where they did a top up of the complimentary
side salad.
I will be re-visiting this restaurant again shortly, to try them
out with what should be a more intricately spiced dish.
Of the 4 lunch time
curry cafes I have reviewed here, this one sits less favourably with me.
At
present I am going to rate it as a 3 star, as the food was ok.
Against it in
terms of recommending it, is the fact that the food doesn't come in any form of
a dish and that no cutlery is available for those who need it. Having served my
curry apprenticeship in Bradford, I am perfectly at home eating my curry with a
chapatti or roti (which is invariably always the case) there will be many others however who are not.
Awarded February 2015