Nawaab, Leeds

Category: Under £20

Situated on Wellington Street in Leeds is Nawaab's city centre restaurant it's cool, it's comfortable, it's easy to find (with my sense of direction this is really something). We arrived early, about 6.00pm on a Thursday and the restaurant was just opening up, it was red hot outside so the cool interior was very welcome as were the long, tall drinks we enjoyed at the bar.

We chatted to the friendly, informative staff for a while whilst our companions arrived the restaurant was just starting to fill up with a number of couples, some suits straight from work and a large, very jovial party of 12 who were really enjoying themselves.

My sister and her husband arrived and we were shown to a very well presented table, close to the window so we could watch the world go by. Like a lot of the uber trendy Indian restaurants opening nowadays, Nawaab is nothing like the old style Indian restaurant the decor here is a gorgeous cool blue with wooden floors and dark wood topped tables teamed with cream and red chairs. A nice touch is a single fresh flower on each table "So far," my sister said, "I'm impressed."

Waiting for us were home-made popadoms and a pickle tray with a selection of chutnies, which we were making head-way through when Naz, the manager, suggested that he bring a selection of starters for us. My sister looked at me, she is pretty conventional in her tastes and was going for the onion bhajis I told her a little adventure is a good thing (as long as it doesn't involve anything with fish!).

Conversation was the order of the day. It is always nice to catch up on the gossip, discuss local or current events and take some time out of the busy day to actually enjoy a meal. The starters arrived a Naz Special and I had never seen anything like it! It was a silver boat platter over two feet long full to the gills with every starter you can think of Samosa, Lamb Chops, Chicken Pakora, Tikka, and yes, Onion Bhaji, it would easily feed six people.

Needless to say we all managed to find something to suit. With reluctance, we stopped eating our way through yet another tasty morsel and contemplated the menu. All the usual popular curry dishes are here, Korma, Dopiaza, Madras etc if you know what you like you are sure to find it here. There is, however, a range of Chef's Specialities with some fabulous dishes including the Narali Special which is a 'Chef of the Year Award Winning Dish'. Available in chicken or lamb, this dish is marinated with yoghurt and special masala sauce with selected herbs, cooked with fresh tomatoes, ginger, onion and a blend of spices with fresh double cream, garnished with cashew nuts and fried onions (£8.95). That was the one for me I love creamy dishes and anything with nuts.

As we were all quite full already but we wanted to try a range of dishes, we asked for small portions of four dishes to share. For me, that's the beauty of Indian and Chinese meals you can all order a dish and have a variety of tastes and textures to try.

We chose: Chicken Narali Special (8.95) as above.

Lamb Nihari (£8.95) an equisite dish popular in New Delhi. The lamb is cooked on a low heat allowing the lamb to be cooked in its own stock and natural flavours.

Chicken Biryani (£7.95) specially flavoured Basmati rice cooked with traditional herbs and spices, served with a vegetable sauce.

Kashmiri Sabzi (£6.95) mixed vegetables cooked in a special sauce with fresh cream, bananas, lychees, herbs & spices.

For sides we chose Bewali Naan (with almonds, sultana, pistachio nuts and pineapple) (£2.20), Chapti (50p each) and a Pilau Rice (£1.95). As we hadn't ordered until after the starters (we were asked before, but were too busy chatting) so had a nice break before our main courses arrived. This gave me a change to enjoy a beautiful glass of chilled Rose and for us to put the world to rights, discuss the recent news events, our holiday plans it was a truly nice evening. It's a very relaxed, laid back place where you do not feel in the least bit rushed or hurried. Naz said afterwards that they like their customers to feel that their table is theirs for as long as they want it eat, relax, chat stay as long as you like.

The main courses arrived, piping hot and the vast array of flavours and textures, we all agreed, were fantastic. We had asked for all the dishes 'medium' and they all had a nice 'warmth' that left a pleasant tingling aftertaste this was not overwhelming and improved the flavour of the dishes.

The creamy dishes were delicate, anything with cashew nuts and I am sold sod the calories nuts are good for you (ask The Food Doctor!). This dish was beautiful. The lamb was much more a traditional 'curry', the large chunks of lamb literally fell apart they were so tender and melted in the mouth. The vegetable dish Ian chose surprised me he is a 'peas, carrots and potatoes' man, plain food, simply done. So the dish with cream, banana and lychee raised my eyebrows, but he enjoyed it. Darren said his Chicken Biryani was very good, and he is not one to give praise lightly.

The dessert menu was excellent as Indian desserts go and we tried a Matka Kulfi (£2.95), a beautiful exotic dish of Pistachio with Saffron sauce and almonds suffused with the wonderful flavour of cardamom. I thought this was devine. The others preferred the Coco Supreme (£2.95,) a cool and refreshing coconut ice cream dish made with real coconut good, more of the Matka Kulfi for me!

We retired to the bar where the boys had another beer and we opted for coffee and gave ourselves a rest after a truly delicious meal. Naz, who has many years experience in the restaurant business started out aged 12 as a dishwasher in Morley. The moved to Guiseley and ran the Silver Spoon a few years ago (which is now the Saffron) and eventually ended up here. He obviously knows what makes a good restaurant work. If you are looking for a new place to try, do give Nawaab a thought, they open lunchtimes too between 12-2.30pm for a hot buffet and deliver takeaway locally.

The venue is great, the service greater and the food, just delicious.

Review Summary

Atmosphere ♦♦♦♦
Food ♦♦♦♦
Service ♦♦♦♦♦
Value ♦♦♦♦♦

Contact Details

Nawaab Unit 1
The Wellesley Hotel
Wellington Street
Leeds
LS1 4WG
T: 0113 244 2979
www.nawaab.net