So it was a Thursday evening and we decided to go out for dinner, we picked Indian as we both felt like a bit of spice, little did we know what was coming.
We arrived at Bollywood Masala and the atmosphere felt flat even though the mood lighting looked nice and welcoming. We waiting by the reception desk for 5-10 minutes until I asked the manager if he was too busy. We we asked to wait in the seating area, 15 minutes later I asked again and we were then taken to our seats by the window. The drinks order was taken but didn't arrive for another at least 15 minutes, I don't normally mind waiting but the restaurant was not busy at all.
The waiter/ manager was a very nice character, that was the only good thing.
STARTER - Bollywood Special Mix (for two) - £8.50
Eventually the starters arrived. We had popadoms and the special mix for two.
The dips were as expected with the popadoms. The starter was nice and warm, I thought the lamb kebab was to spicy for me to enjoy. The Lamb chop was a little chewer that expected. The chicken wings were juicy and fun of flavour.
MAIN - Chicken Biryani - £8.95 & Lamb Shahrukh - £9.95
The biryani rice was nice in flavour but had a smoked taste that I was not keen on and not the usual taste that I was expecting, the accompanying vegetable sauce was pleasant but had lots of oil on the surface.
The Lamb Shahrukh was far to HOT but this is a hot dish, we actually asked the waitress to add some cream and make it mild which she did, even then I could not enjoy it as it was still too hot for me.
REVIEW OF BOLLYWOOD MASALA
I would have to summarise and say that I would not go back unless to give it a second chance. The manager was great when he was present, a real what I would call old school character. I think that the decor could do with a bit of updating to keep inline with a city centre restaurant.
Service gets a 5 from me - it was extremely slow from start to finish. But very polite.
Food gets a 4 from me, most if the food was far to spicy and lacked finesse.
Atmosphere get a 5 from me, I expected more and it felt cold and that made it uncomfortable. The lighting was pleasant.
Overall 4.6/10 - I was disappointed at the service and food from a city centre restaurant.