All Comments

Neil - Easy to sum up, great food but slow service. Really enjoyed my chicken tikka starter and chicken byriani main, stuffed paratha not too doughy and had a tasty filling. Would go back but probably get there early as it took three hours to feed us!

Mark - The old faithful when it's hard to book anything else! Dom led us back to Algate and the revamped Mumbai Sq. with smaller, lower tables than previous visits which did mean the 9 of us could at least talk to each other. It was surprisingly crowded which gave a good ambience but perhaps meant even slower service than usual as despite a 7pm start we ended up finishing very late once Griff had a dessert. My starter of Chicken Nazakat was over charred and no real particular taste of spices or garlic but my main of Lamb Sag was good. Rice a touch dry and overall cost seemed high even with some discount - not sure why Dom alone should pay for all they wine? Good to catch up and I'm looking forward to seeing Brian dressed in red!

Dominic - Having volunteered to CC this month, as I had 3 venues in mind, I thought the task would be easy. Not so! All 3 businesses were closed (some permanently, it would seem), which alas is another reminder of the pandemic's effects. So my fallback was the spacious Mumbai Square where the food has always been good and we also received some Tastecard discount. I also got to again position myself at one end of our table so as to have a little distance to everyone as I'm still being a tad cautious. The place was surprisingly busy when we arrived and then got very busy which was so out of character to our previous visits. And while this added to the atmosphere, it did cause delays in getting our food (cue the Diggers' compulsory pointing-to-his-watch pic!). But to the food: I went for the Duck Tikka which was very tasty and a really tender cut of meat. For main, I tried a "turned up" Lamb Tikka Cobra Naga which was nowhere near its "phal description" either before or after my request, although still reasonably tasty and, I have to admit, contained another outstanding cut of meat. All the veg was rather nondescript but the wine was quite nice and the Stuffed Paratha tasty. Overall, the service was disappointing despite liqueurs at the end … well, for most of us, as Richard's flamboyant hand-gesturing dispersed his across the table although he would have you believe there was a problem with an uneven surface! It might be that this price range is the new norm but despite this, another great night of catching up with most of the crowd (your absence was again missed, Graeme!), and we even got to see Griff tuck into an ice cream dessert  … yes, he WAS unbelievable!

Richard - Great to see everyone out especially Dom and Tim who I had not seen for ages. Mixed starter was a little light on items and came out 5 minutes after everyone else's. Following Brian's lead I went for a fishy dishy and had the monkfish masala main which was very good. Rice, bread and other items were good. 

Dave - Top performance from the Mumbai Square - including - for the first time ever - ambience! Unusually for me I strayed from the griff set menu and ordered a salmon tikka starter which was excellent. I returned to my comfort zone for the main with chicken curry which was also v.nice & crispy naan bread scored maximum 10. I got so carried away I ended up ordering a kulfi for sweet! (Can't find the category for this on the score sheet ??) Great evening talking lots of bollox (well and truly back to normal now!) Only realised on way home while browsing the updated website through one eye  (ps. great to have the site back!) that it was my 150th appearance - excellent way to celebrate it - if only there had been a picture I could have taken off the wall to mark the occasion in the griff traditional way.

John - King prawn puree followed by chicken tikka sizzling korai. The starter was ok but the main course was better. Nice tender pieces of chicken in a tasty sauce that wasn't too hot. The beer in this place seemed expensive. The bottled kingfisher was better than the draught cobra. Service was a bit slow.

Brian - A very enjoyable evening as usual. Pub was a bit [too?] lively, restaurant livelier than I've seen it before, but still sufficient space due to the size of the place - hopefully they don't get tempted to cram a few more tables in. Duck tikka starter was very good, as was the tandoori monkfish main, which I thought might be a bit dry / over-cooked, but wasn't. I also enjoyed the taster of Richard's monkfish dish, although the sauce was a bit creamy for my taste.

Jeff - I've always had a sneaky fondness for the Mumbai, which is normally dark, empty and quirkily staffed, certainly a different ambience.  This time, things had changed as the lighting had been turned up, it was busy but not full - yet the staff were still pretty friendly and joined in with our poppadom finger-counting ritual.  I had a decent prawn puree, followed by an excellent duck achari, and although I would have preferred a larger share of the veg that went around I was full at the end. So I enjoyed the ambience and the food - service was 'unhurried'.  The price was £40 a head (£25 in 2016), upped by the more than average consumption of beer (and 12.5% service charge).  As Mark has pointed out, we probably drank more due to the 7 pm sit-down time. It's great to know that the membership now has two more workers, Dom and Brian having returned to gainful employment. I have no such ambitions.

Tim - Mumbai square is a spacious if slightly soulless venue - double height ceilings in part, with fairly bright lighting, and not the best choice of music. It was also somewhat chilly; I kept my coat on until it was time to eat. The table itself though had plenty of room with comfortable chairs. The mixed starter was good, I especially liked the prawns which had been coated in a tasty sauce. The main of Sorisha Murg tikka was good - plenty of chicken and plenty of sauce, though I'd probably go for something with a stronger flavour next time. The service was decent, but I marked it down a little as many of the dishes came out rather cold (just the dish, not the food), and the food was slow to be delivered (the meal took over 3 hours), though the staff were very attentive in topping up people's drinks (one going so far as to try to top up my glass while I was actually drinking from it). The complimentary liqueurs at the end were welcome. Overall cost was similar to other meals we've had recently, but more than pre-lockdown.