ZAIKA
Chippingham Place, Attercliffe, Sheffield, S9 3SA
Telephone: 01142 425 800
Opening Times:
Mon - Sat 10:30am to 8pm
"All Change!"
Date of Visit: June 2017 - 3pm-ish
New owners, new staff.
The prices have gone up, quite markedly.
It no longer has the old vibe.
The starters weren't as good as they used to be. Mains were fine.
We used to visit this place (without reviewing it) quite frequently.
We are no longer in such haste to return.
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The prices have gone up, quite markedly.
It no longer has the old vibe.
The starters weren't as good as they used to be. Mains were fine.
We used to visit this place (without reviewing it) quite frequently.
We are no longer in such haste to return.
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ZAIKA
"A Proper Curry!"
Date of Visit: Thursday 02/06/16 - 3pm
Large Seekh Kebab - £3.20 (3 pieces)
Medium Chicken Saag - £5.99
Medium Chicken Karahi - £5.99
Medium Chicken Saag - £5.99
Medium Chicken Karahi - £5.99
Chapatti - 60p
They were out of the Vegetable Pakora's... again! Further evidence of how good they are.
(Nearly) All South Yorkshire restauranteurs, please take note - Zaika serves Seekh Kebabs (5/5) how they should be made... nice and spicy ! Absolutely first class !
The Greyhound's Chicken Karahi (5/5), was befitting of a Bradford restaurant. Sublime. My Chicken Saag was excellent (4/5). Big portions, outstanding quality.
The Chapattis were of a good size and very light and soft in texture. Excellent.
If only every South Yorkshire Indian Restaurant followed this model, rather than the bland, homogenised non-entitities that we have to endure.
Visit. Enjoy.
Awarded March 2015
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ZAIKA
"Less Ghee In The Main Dishes Please"
Date of Visit: Saturday 03/10/15 - 3pm
Large Egg Pakora - £2.25 (3 pieces)
Large Aloo Pakora - £2.40 (ample)
Large Seekh Kebab - £3.20 (3 pieces)
Medium Garlic Chilli Chicken - about £9.50… I will explain.
Large Daal Saag - £6.99
Large Aloo Pakora - £2.40 (ample)
Large Seekh Kebab - £3.20 (3 pieces)
Medium Garlic Chilli Chicken - about £9.50… I will explain.
Large Daal Saag - £6.99
Chapatti - 60p
Tandoori Roti - 50p
Tandoori Roti - 50p
Plain Naan - £1.10
Pilau Rice - £1.50
Pilau Rice - £1.50
They were out of Veg Pakora's, so we made do with the Aloo variant… and were slightly disappointed. The same applied to the Egg Pakora's. I had an image of pieces of scrambled egg coated in the scrumptious spicy batter, then deep fried. What we received, were 3 boiled eggs in batter. I don't think that we will bother with either of these starters again. The Seekh Keebab's were as good as ever.
The Daal Saag was enjoyed, as was my Garlic Chilli Chicken, which I ordered off menu. With hindsight, I should have agreed a price for this item beforehand. As events transpired, I ended up paying about £9.50 for the dish. Caveat Emptor. We rated both dishes 4/5, though as ever, we thought that the dishes were heavy on the ghee.
The Chapattis, Rotis and Naan were all good. The Naan was the stand out of the three. All three variants of bread are good value but the Roti's exceptionally so. There was nothing wrong with the Pilau Rice, which was light and flavoursome.
Awarded March 2015
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ZAIKA
"Chef's Day Off"
Date of Visit: Thursday 25/06/15 - 1pm
Medium Veg Pakoras - £1.40
Medium Chicken Karahi - £5.99
Medium Vegetable Karahi - £4.99
Chapatti - 60p
Tandoori Roti - 50p
Chapatti - 60p
Tandoori Roti - 50p
Plain Naan £1.10
The Veg Pakora and Seekh Keebabs were up to the normal high standard. An ample amount of salad accompanied the starters.
The Chicken Karahi was good, but a little oilier than normal. The vegetables in the Vegetable Karahi were straight out of a frozen pack and were a disappointment, though the spicing was good. Again, the dish was oilier than normal.
The Chapattis, Rotis and Naan were all good. The Naan was the stand out of the three.
We learned that the usual Chef was not working; maybe that is why the Vegetable Karahi wasn't of the standard expected? As a result, the restaurant is clipped a star.
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ZAIKA
"A Light Lunch"
Date of Visit: Wednesday 08/04/15 - 1pm
Medium Veg Pakoras - £1.40
Medium Seekh Keebab on a Naan - £3.50
We sank a couple of pre-meal pints in the Carlton - which has become the norm for when we visit this restaurant.
The Medium Veg Pakora shared between the two of us was more than ample in quantity and excellent in quality.
The Seekh Keebabs, were as ever, excellent. The Naans on which they were served were ok but not of the quality that we have experienced just recently at a couple or three other restaurants. The Keebab's were probably freshly made that day and were nice and spicy.
An ample amount of salad accompanied the Veg Pakora and the Seekh Keebabs.
A light lunch, but an enjoyable one - and for just £4.20 each.
We sank a couple of pre-meal pints in the Carlton - which has become the norm for when we visit this restaurant.
The Medium Veg Pakora shared between the two of us was more than ample in quantity and excellent in quality.
The Seekh Keebabs, were as ever, excellent. The Naans on which they were served were ok but not of the quality that we have experienced just recently at a couple or three other restaurants. The Keebab's were probably freshly made that day and were nice and spicy.
An ample amount of salad accompanied the Veg Pakora and the Seekh Keebabs.
A light lunch, but an enjoyable one - and for just £4.20 each.
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ZAIKA
"As Good As It Gets?"
Date of Visit: Tuesday 25/02/15 - 2pm
Medium Seekh Kebab £2.40 (2 large pieces)
Medium Veg Pakoras £1.40
Large Chicken Karahi £7.99
Tandoori Roti 50p
Chipatti 60p
Chipatti 60p
We'd enjoyed a couple of pints of real ale in (the) Carlton (free car park at the rear)… and were very much looking forward to dining once again at Zaika.
We weren't disappointed!
The medium Seekh Kebab and medium Vegetable Pakoras that we shared were simply devine.
We wanted to test a theory this lunchtime… would a large main dish be sufficient for 2 people to share? The Chicken Karahi was our dish of choice. There was just about sufficient volume for a lighter lunch time meal; however, when we next visit, I will revert to ordering a medium dish to myself. The dish itself wasn't as spicy as normal. Maybe they erred on the side of caution when I said that "we wanted it medium hot but not so as it would blow our heads off".
At a measly 50p, the Tandoori Rotis are beyond substantial and of good quality. The Chapatti was good too.
At £7 all in for 2 decent starters, a sufficiently sized main dish portion, a roti and a chapatti each… it was an absolute bargain. We usually pay more than that for just the main dish at most SYIR's.
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ZAIKA
"Zaika… Zeitgeist"
Date of Visit: Saturday 17/01/15; 2pm
Poppadoms 30p
Medium Seekh Kebab £2.40 (2 large pieces)
Large Veg Pakoras £2.40 (see image - 2 portions)
Medium Lamb Karahi £5.99
Medium Lamb Saag £5.99
Medium Chicken Jalfezi Karahi £5.99
Pilau Rice £1.50
Tandoori Roti 50p
Plain Naan £1.10
Plain Naan £1.10
Rasmali £1.50
A Vegetable Pakora mountain!
We'd had our ration of Wentworth Oyster Stout, 4.8%, in (the) Carlton (free car park at the rear)… and very good it was too.
One thing they don't ration at Zaika is the portion size! Order the medium Seekh Kebab and you'll receive 2 large pieces. We ordered 2 large portions (a snip at £2.40 each) of Vegetable Pakoras… and faced the EU's Pakora mountain - 8 pieces each! The medium sized main dishes put many, if not most SYIRs (South Yorkshire Indian Restaurant) to shame. I've a feeling that the large portion would be sufficient for 2 diners. I may test this theory on our next visit. At 50p (YES, 50p!), the Tandoori Rotis are beyond substantial. When some SYIR's are charging £2.50/£2.75 even £2.95 for a Plain Naan; Zaika unmasks these modern day Dick Turpins! The Rasmali is made on the premises, a delight and a bargain!
I think I was unjust when scoring this restaurant a mere 4 stars on our first visit. Maybe I was erring on the side of caution at the time as it was one of the first restaurants we visited… perhaps I didn't want to introduce a five star restaurant so early and so freely.
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ZAIKA
"A Bradford Style Curry Cafe in Sheffield"
Date of Visit: Weds 25/06/14
If you ever visited and didn't like either the Kashmir Curry Centre (before it closed) or The Mangla, both on Spital Hill, or the old Gulshan, which traded on The Wicker; well, you probably wont like this place either.
It's a curry cafe in the mould of many a Bradford restaurant.
It is a small restaurant, only having seating for 16 people.
The vast majority of the clientele are Asians. In fact, in all the years that I have been using this restaurant, I think I have only ever seen other caucasian diners on just the one occasion.
So, what did I have today?
Sweet Lassi (Glass) £1.50
Mixed Starter (Chicken Tikka / Lamb Tikka / Seekh Kebab) £4.00
Onion Bhaji (1 piece) 0.75p
Samosa (1 piece) 0.75p
Tandoori Roti (two) 0.50p each
Rasmalai £1.50
Salad (large plate) and four sauces with the starters
... and from the Zaika Chef's Specials section of the menu that was in use prior to the one that you will currently find in the restaurant.
South Indian Garlic Chilli Chicken £6.25
I didn't order the Onion Bhaji, it was my friend that did. He was expecting just one (large) piece but was served with two.
Then, a portion of two Samosa's were delivered to the table, these weren't ordered. Still, they looked great, so I wasn't going to make a fuss and send them back.
We now had quite a mountain of food on our table and we agreed to have an Onion Bhaji and a Samosa each.
I looked at what was in front of me and as I already had my Mixed Grill starter, I decided to just have a small taster bite from my Bhaji and Samosa and to take the remainder home with me.
All the food was of good quality.
The Seekh Kebabs were excellent as usual, as were the Chicken & Lamb Tikka.
When I asked the waiter if I could have a main course from an older menu, he said that it wasn't a problem. The dish I selected was described as:
"the most outstanding dish on the menu, it's hot and spicy, with a wicked twist, yet full of flavour. This dish will warm all your taste buds and you will not be disappointed"
The waiter also informed me that the dish was of Vindaloo spicing - I guess he just wanted to make sure that I was capable of eating such a spicy dish.
And there I think lies the secret. Palatability and depth to the dish was achieved through intricate spicing, which made this a very enjoyable curry. A lot of restaurants may make their Vindaloo (and other hot currys) for the Friday/Saturday night "lager louts" by adding a shovel full of chilli powder and a bunch of raw fresh chillies. Yes, of course this will provide the heat required but it will be an up front in your face heat, which to me often makes the dishes inedible.
My friend tried a bit of my curry and remarked that it was hot - I didn't think it was that bad. In fact, I didn't even require a sip of water until I had finished the meal. Maybe the couple of drinks from the Sweet Lassi prior to me starting the curry helped take the sting out of it?
As for the curry, it was like a Bradford curry; what you may probably describe as Apna style (though we didn't ask for that) with a reduced sauce - as opposed to the rather "sloppy" South Yorkshire curries that you often encounter.
The Tandoori Rotis are very large; I ordered two and ended up bringing one home. One Roti was fine to eat the curry with, in fact, I ate a couple of mouthfuls of my starter with a bit of the Roti as they hadn't got the cutlery out to us straight away. The Roti was a good texture, tasted fine and was served very hot.
The Rasmalai was good, though it was a little warm - I prefer mine served ice chilled.
For me, there is nothing not to like about this restaurant - Lassi, good spicy starters, excellent intricately spiced main dishes, authentic Indian desserts. They even serve Indian Tea and Barfi as well - I bought half a Kg of Barfi (£3) to take home with me, yum!
Zaika India Ka - The Taste of India.
Other Indian desserts available are:
Faluda
Gujerala
Sweet Rice
Mithai
Barfi
Gulab Jamun
Laddu
Kulfi
Indian Cakes
To summarise - It's not somewhere that you would take a lady on a first date or a business associate for lunch. It does lack something, and I can't quite put my finger on what; maybe "atmosphere"? However, they do damned good curries at reasonable prices.