February meeting - Haslemere - report

Shahanaz - shame! The food was great but the impression was that they really don't want to play. We like to set the restaurant the challenge - for the given food price, impress us. Most restaurants do this really well. Shahanaz prefers not to take the initiative in this way; instead, we had to pick the food from the (extensive) menu.They didn't play ball at all; if a dish had rice included (there seemed far more rice than we'd ordered), they just kept quiet. The drink prices were excessive. House white undrinkable - in JA's view. Coffee and brandy after dinner - very expensive. It all left a slightly sour taste and no-one said we'd hurry back.

For the record, we had a mixed starter each (expensive), and for mains we chose jeera beef (excellent), prawn dhansak (OK), tandoori chicken (good), chicken jalfrezi (very tasty), lamb nehari (delicious, lamb shank), and lamb madras. Rice, naans and three vegetables amongst six of us.

We didn't go there meaning to push the boat out, but the price for six was about £270 including a modest tip. Including a pint or two in the pub beforehand, the evening cost over £50 per head. This isn't really what we want to see in these straitened times. You could go somewhere rather nice for that money. Usually we manage 12 for not much more than £300. In our view, Shahanaz does some great cooking; enjoy it as a take-away.

Shahanaz - Haslemere, 2/10/08

For over a year I’d always bypassed the pink kitsch of Shanhanaz en route to the morely homely confines of Chilli Night - always until Thursday. The cold in the air gave my sis and I and appetite, just as well given the copious servings we were about to receive (and Lord we were truly grateful). The dining room is large and square, a bizarre venue on several levels with a raise in the middle, remiscent of a night club, carpeted over and repainted.

Quite a crowd had gathered and everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves. Two fat ladies, eighty eight, a seventieth birthday party, earnest young couples, a table of 12 women armed with pencils and notepaper (?!).

The chutney tray, delivered by an ex-Gurkha Chautari employee, featured a delicious, unctious, honeyish tamarind jam. Our starters, rich, stir-fried, melt in the mouth chicken livers with slivers of green pepper and onion and Bel Puri were very pleasing and equally filling. Main dishes included a rather stodgy Sali Boti and a thick, dark Jeera Beef with strong savour of roasted cumin and hot chilli which was perhaps a bit overpowering. However, they were no less than average while a side of creamed spinach and the sweet buttery crunch of babycorn as well as tasty pilau were superior.

There’s plenty of choice (350 items?) and enough quality in the cooking to make another visit a proposition. It’s simliar in standard to Petersfields, Spice Lounge, not much different from Chilli Night either.

FOOD: 3
VALUE: 3
SERVICE: 3
AMBIENCE: 3

Willp2328score: 6/10