Restaurant Review - Indian City

Last weekend we met with a friend who had just come back to England from Delhi and we were keen to go for a meal. I decided on Indian City, not far from St Pauls Cathedral/Blackfriars Bridge. I did a bit of research and saw mixed reviews, so thought we'd give it a go. I booked a table for three for the Saturday night.

We apologised as we arrived 20 minutes after our booking time and were delighted at how nice they were - even though they were fully booked and had kept our 'reserved' table. First impressions good. The table was laid out beautifully and the waiter gave us the menus and five minutes to settle before we ordered our drinks. The two men had a beer and I had a Lassi, which is a yoghurt based drink and it was lovely.

For starters we decided on the Mixed Tandoori platter for three which arrived promptly. The chicken was melt in the mouth, the prawns huge and tasty. Sadly my piece of salmon was too dry to eat and the piece of lamb I had was very overcooked. Someone else's portion of lamb was rare though and the others salmon seemed to be fine too, so bad luck on my behalf! The presentation of the plating up was first class and the tamarind sauce that was served with the meats was a delight.

For mains we ordered a Lamb Vindaloo, a Garlic Chilli Chicken Tawa, a side dish of Mutter Paneer - I insisted as its my favourite - with steamed rice and 3 roti (tandoori bread).

The lamb vindaloo was excellent. The meat was tender, the sauce was rich and very, very hot and we all loved it. The Chicken Tawa lacked something to me.. it just didn't seem to have much flavour. It could be partly due to the huge flavour coming from the vindaloo though. The worst dish was the mutter paneer. The minute it came to the table I was confused, as it looked like a yellow thick custard with a few random peas and hardly any paneer. I tasted it and the sweetness of the dish was overwhelming. It was more of a creamy dessert.. with peas in it. Considering our guest is from India - we asked him what he thought and he confirmed that was not a traditional flavour (or texture) at all.

So a bit of a mixed bag really. The bill came to £92 which I thought was a little excessive as we didn't even have a main dish each and only had a total of two beers and two Lassi drinks. But then again - its location will always be a bit overpriced. In all, I wouldn't rush back. But the waiters were polite and maybe I missed a trick on the menu.

Mini Pork & Tomato Meatloaves

This time it was The Bloke's turn to be feeling a bit unwell and he sent me a text asking for mashed potatoes. I'm pretty sure he wanted something to go with the mash so before leaving for  my Spanish lesson, I pulled a pack of pork mince out of the freezer to defrost and used the train journey to have a think about what to make. I decided on one I haven't done for over a year. Pork and Tomato Mini Meatloaves. He wanted comfort food and I was happy to accommodate.

Pork & Tomato Mini Meatloaves

Ingredients:  (Makes 6)

500g pork mince
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 carrot, chopped very small
1 onion, chopped finely
1 clove garlic, minced.
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 slices bread, made into breadcrumbs
200g chopped tinned tomatoes
1 egg
small bunch fresh thyme
few cherry tomatoes
pinch of sugar
salt & pepper

Method:

Set oven to 200 C. In the oil, cook the chopped carrot, onion and garlic on a medium heat for about 8 minutes until carrots are tender. Scrape into a large bowl and leave to cool for a moment. Then, to the bowl, add the pork mince, Worcestershire sauce, breadcrumbs, tinned tomatoes, the egg and half of the thyme leaves. Season with salt and pepper and mix well.

Lightly oil 6 ramekins or muffin tins and fill the meat mixture to the top. Press a half of a cherry tomato in the middle (cut side up) and sprinkle the tomato with a pinch of sugar. Add the rest of the thyme leaves and put the filled ramekins onto a baking sheet. Bake for 35-40 minutes.

I prefer these to the standard loaf tin meatloaf that you slice. They seem more manageable and are lighter. And I love individual portions of anything. I served two per person with creamy mashed potatoes and broccoli.