GURKHA
Grove Street, Retford, Nottinghamshire, DN22 6JP
Telephone: 01777 702 788
Opening Times:
Mon: Closed
Tues to Sat: 5:30pm - 11:00pm
Sun: 5:30pm - 10:30pm
Everest 1-0 Gurkha
Date of Visit: Saturday 21/11/15 - 6:00pm
"If a man says that he isn't afraid of dying, he's either lying or a Gurkha!"
Onion Bhaji - £2.50 (2 pieces) - 3/5
Seekh Kebab - £3.50 (2 pieces) - 2/5
Gurkha Mixed Starter - £4.75 (Lamb Tikka, Chicken Tikka, Seekh Kebab) - 3/5
Tarka Daal - £4.50 - 1/5
Chicken Rogan Josh - £5.95 - 3/5
Lamb (Chicken) Karahi - £6.50 - 4/5 - I feel that this is an over generous mark from Old Ironguts, as he ordered Lamb, yet received Chicken. Ok, so the Chicken Karahi scores 4/5 but should penalty points be deducted for the blunder?
Chips - £1.85
Naan - £1.95
Keema Naan - £2.25
Garlic Naan - £2.25
Having dined there last evening, it may well be that Gurkha is on its last legs as an eat in restaurant.
We were on the premises for a little over an hour and a half, yet during that time, there was just one other table of two patrons dining. As we were preparing to leave, what would have been a void was averted when 3 elderly diners took shelter from the bitterly cold evening. Little did they know that the owner of Gurkha had cranked the heating down a notch or two whilst we were in.
The Kebab's weren't up to (our) scratch, the Bhaji's being slightly better. We may have to start taking our own spicy batter mix to these Anglicised establishments? The Tikka pieces in the Gurkha Mixed Starter were better than the Kebab.
Tarka Daal - seasoned & spiced lentils. A big bowl of brightly coloured, aromatic Tarka Daal is one of my favourite winter comfort foods… if done correctly!
I made a schoolboy error by ordering a lentil dish in a restaurant with such a low throughput. The lentils were still quite hard, with the consistency of the dish being too watery. It was anaemic, and the only aroma coming from the dish was that of the overpowering garlic.
I think that they had tried to cut the cost and maximise the profit with this dish - as many of the key ingredients were missing. Where were the onions, tomatoes, ginger, cumin, coriander, chilli's, turmeric, garam masala etc? What I experienced seemed to be a form of garlic & lentil gruel. Poor.
The Lamb Karahi wasn't - they messed the order up and served Old IronGuts a Chicken Karahi. Initially he was disappointed that he hadn''t received his lamb dish, and with the staff unable to explain the error, he soldiered on with the chicken version.
The Chicken Rogan Josh wasn't anything outstanding, lacking the intricate spicing that the Greyhound desires.
3 punters order 3 starters, 3 mains and 3 breads - yet a fourth main dish is presented at the table. A basic mathematical error - or a way to eke a few more rupees or pennies from our purses?
The Naans were good.
The 3 star rating could quite easily be a 2 star… sometimes, Old IronGuts may just be a little too generous with his appraisals?
Walking back to the car, we peeked in to Everest. What a difference! Busy, busy, busy… a heaving "waiting area", every table fully loaded, staff buzzing from table to table - lots of shiny, happy people having fun!
The people of Retford seem to have voted with their feet - they probably already know what we discovered last night!
Interesting to observe a spot of racism being exercised during our visit. A well dressed traveller entered the restaurant and enquired about a table for his wife, 2 daughters and himself. The owner asked if he had a reservation as the restaurant was fully booked all evening… really! Shameful.
Awarded February 2015
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