Customer service at Indian restaurant is second-to-none… and the food is fantastic too

I knew that the customer service at The India Gate was superb within minutes of taking my seat on Sunday evening. The guy sitting with his partner at the table next to me couldn’t see the menu clearly and was quickly provided with a pair of reading glasses and a digital magnifier… now that’s impressive.Throughout the evening my wife and I spent at the St James’ Street restaurant and takeaway, the attention we received was just as impressive. Never overbearing yet polite and concerned – we felt their questions about our food were 100% genuine and that if we did have any problems, they would have been rectified speedily.Observing from our extremely comfortable chairs at the back of the restaurant, we saw several regulars greeted with open arms and friendship – this is clearly a place where regulars come again and again. With the proliferation of curry houses locally, this has to be a good sign.

So, the staff are excellent… what about the rest of the evening? The building itself looks very warm and inviting from the outside and, when you enter, has a traditional Indian restaurant layout, with bar/waiting area at the front, and a mix of Asian and pop tunes playing quietly in the background.India Gate is one of the longest-established Lynn restaurants, having been in the town for more than 30 years, but the decor is modern and contemporary, the room open and airy. The seats are very comfy too.So far so good, but we didn’t come here just for great customer service and a nice space – what of the food? Well, mine was absolutely delicious and wonderful value too.

After ordering drinks (small bottle of Becks Blue non-alcoholic beer for me – £3.95, and a Pinot Grigio for Josi – £5.95), we started as we always do, with poppadoms, dips and pickles (£5). The poppadoms were crisp and crunchy and the lime pickle was the best I’ve ever tasted… so fresh and zingy. After the poppadoms, we decided to leave the old comfort zone this evening and have some dishes that were new to us, so for starters, I went for the Aloo Chat Puri and Josi plumped for the Shami Kebab.My dish consisted of diced potatoes mixed with fresh coriander and chat massala, served on fried unleavened bread. It was a subtle dish, well presented, which got tastier with every mouthful and one I will try again. My wife’s starter was spiced minced lamb served in burger shapes, again with fresh coriander and salad. She found it pleasant but would have liked a little more spice.

On to our main courses. Josi went for Lamb Saag with spinach (£8.95) and mushroom fried rice (£3.95) plus a side of bhindi bhajee (£4.95), while I chose vegetable dhansak (£8.95) with pilau rice (£3.95) and a sag aloo side (£4.95).Josi said her lamb was tender and delicately spicy whereas her side, which is an okra curry dish, was fresh and beautifully flavoured. My dhansak was superb, both sweet and sour and hot at the same time – totally different from anything I’d had at an Indian restaurant before. The side of flavoured potatoes and spinach was a perfect accompaniment.Although I’ve included the prices for all the dishes we enjoyed so much on Sunday evening, the actual bill worked out cheaper for us as we took advantage of the Sunday Banquet Special deal, where you pay £15.95 for any starter, any main, any rice and any side or naan. That deal also runs from Monday to Thursday, going up to a still very reasonable £17.95 on Fridays and Saturdays.

Overall, we both agreed the service, ambience and food meant this was one of the best places we’ve visited in quite some time and throughout the evening we could see that many feel the same. Ratings out of five:Food: Fresh, tasty and full of flavour, our dishes were lovely. ****Drink: My two non-alcohol beers and Josi’s wine bumped the bill up by nearly £14 but we enjoyed them… and jugs of water are available for those really wanting to make the most of the Sunday Banquet saving. There was a decent offering of spirits, beers, wines and soft drinks. *** Decor: Not too grandiose, just open, airy and modern. *** Staff: Nothing was too much trouble for these polite and friendly guys. *****Price: Our overall bill came to just shy of £50, which I thought was very reasonable. ****

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