The Best Guide for the Portsmouth Area

Bilash Tandoori Restaurant - a food review

Author: RichardRickyPalmer

Published: 7th May 2011 07:11

An enjoyable meal at The Bilash Tandoori restaurant

The Bilash Tandoori Restaurant, North End, previously The Maharaja, has recently opened under new management. The word Bilash means "enjoyment" - an apt name indeed for the restaurant, as my guest and I had a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

The new owner, Mr Nurul Alam, has many years experience within the Indian restaurant trade and is an attentive host, who happily offers advice on menu choices. He is keen to provide his customers with a personalised dining experience, and during my visit offered to create a vegetarian dish upon request and to my specification.

Mr Alam's experience extends to understanding the creativity and knowledge that goes into curry making; he is also an experienced chef having worked at The Cinnamon Restaurant, Waterlooville. This experience has encouraged him to introduce some interesting dishes to the menu. One of the house specialities is a chicken dish with honey, lime and balsamic vinegar.

The restaurant has retained its original décor.  It offers a choice of seating areas with semi-private booths that run down one side of the restaurant creating a cosy atmosphere. The other part of the restaurant is set out with well spaced tables and chairs. Whilst we live in the 21^st century and we are keen to streamline our day to day environment with trendy modern open plan arrangements, I am pleased to note that the Bilash retains the air of a traditional Indian restaurant.  Well done to The Bilash for keeping this charming feature. 

The new owner is very keen that his restaurant is a great success and provides a wonderful customer experience serving great tasting food at reasonable prices.   The Bilash also offers a home delivery service for those nights when you want to stay in with a DVD.

Owner's philosophy: "Give them good food every time, and they'll keep coming back for more!"

Vegetarian's Verdict: Pleasant ambience, friendly staff, and delicious food. Plenty of vegetarian options. I chose a vegetable Ceylon dish, containing coconut and pineapple - it was fairly spicy (exactly how I like my curry), and I enjoyed the contrast of the curry flavours with the sweetness of the pineapple. A side order of Bombay potato was a perfect accompaniment - cooked to perfection, which just a hint of flavour.  I have a phobia of peas - just the sight of them is enough to put my off my dinner! So my first question to any waiter is "Are there any peas in that." Normally I get told "Oh no sir, no peas" only to be served a dish containing hundreds of the horrid little green things. But it was a delight when I was served a pea-free meal at The Bilash.

 Meat-eater's Verdict: The attentive staff were knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the menu, and able to offer advice on menu choices. The Chicken Tikka Balti was well cooked if a little heavy on the salt and didn't require the raw onion and tomato garnish.  Served with a choice of Naan bread, I opted for the Peshwari which was a pleasant accompaniment. "Traditional" Indian bottled beers of Kingfisher and Cobra served nicely chilled and not over priced.  If some more authentic Indian beers had been available I would have given them a go.

What the meal cost: £24.85 for a starter, 2 main courses, a side dish and drinks.

An enjoyable meal at a reasonable price. I am definitely going back for more - Book me a table for next week!

Restaurant details

BILASH Tandoori (Restaurant & Takeaway)

245. London Road, North End, Portmsouth, PO2 9HA

Tel: (023) 9266 9636

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