Bombay Cuisine/Indian/Moffat

Moffat is not somewhere we usually go, but in this case it was a good stop of point during a business trip. We fancied an Indian meal so a quick Google gave us Bombay Cuisine.

It was a pain in the bum to find with the Sat Nav and postcode, it kept taking us round and round a block when in fact the restaurant is on the main part of the street opposite some street parking places.

The restaurant itself is downstairs, not quite a cellar, but a lower floor and on entering it has that faint smell of mustiness.

We were greeted by a very jolly man who we later found out was Kal, the manager.  He was just in a regular shirt and pants, no uniform, and didn't look as though he was at work really, so we had to ask if there were in fact open.  They were, and we were ushered in.

We were given a choice of tables, which is always nice, there was just one other larger group in.  It was buffet night so the buffet was in full force, we asked what was on it and the waiter gave us a guided tour explaining what each dish was.  We ended up deciding to go for the main menu though.

The menus were quite tatty and stained, and felt a bit grubby in the hands.  Could do with getting them re-done.  Kal came over to take our order and he was fabulous, suggesting different foods and options.

I went for Patra - Vine leaves soaked in gramflour & spices. Shallow fried. Served with tamarind sauce and seasoned chick pea's.

This was gorgeous, I have never had anything quite like this and not sure how to describe it really.  Crunchy, tasty, something different.


My partner went for an Onion Bahji, which looked quite different to others he has had, flat and crispy.  served with some lovely sauces  (which I ate  :) )

For a main, and under Kal's guidence, I had the Vegetable Thali's Chefs choice of three home cooked dishes. Served with Riata, Rice, Popodom & Chapati. 

It arrived in a COLD metal tray, almost like a school dinner tray, not very pretty to look at, but the food was magnificient!


Not quite sure what it all was, the first one was a curry base, the second had some okra (which is one of my favourites) and the last was paneer saag. I got the rice and the chapati, but not the popodom or the riata.  I didn't actually realise there was bits missing until later, there was plenty of food, but would have been nice to taste the missing bits too.


Partner had his usual Chicken Tikka, Kal tried to talk him into a spicier version, but he wasn't having any of that.


He said it was really good, nicely flavoured.  It was served with rice, curry sauce & a salad garnish (although the salad garnish didn't arrive)

We also ordered a sesame naan, as this was a new thing to us.

That was really nice, the sesame seeds worked really well with the soft bread.


The house wine was nice, rich and full bodied.


All in all, the restaurant is basic, there is a lot of comings and going for take-aways, and the toilets could do with a spruce up.  But look past that as the food is excellent.  We will definitely be back when passing again.


Here are the details for you:


http://www.bombaycuisinemoffat.com/ 


Lower Craignelder 
High Street, 
Moffat, 
DG10 9ED
01683 220900

The Near Boot/Pub Food/Carlisle

The Near Boot is a pub right on the outskirts of Carlisle, at the top of Brampton Road, in a little place called Whiteclosegate.

It has a large parking area behind the pub, and a nice garden so you can have a cold beer in the summer.

Nice and clean inside, with stripped back tables and chair, quiet country style, rustic looking. Well set out with a choice of different sized tables.

We took a large round table and were brought a menu by a server.  The food orders are taken at the table, the drinks you need to go to the bar to collect yourself, which is a bit of a shame as if you want a top up half way through your meal, you have to go and wait to be served.

It is a vast menu, with main meals ranging from about £8.50 through to £15.00, starters are around £5.00.

There was 4 of us and we went for a "Sharing Platter" to start.  Being Veggie I asked if the chicken could be served on a separate plate, this was no problem.

It was very good sized portion, plenty of food for 4 people, and it cost £11.50.

We got Onion Rings, Chilli Cheese Bites, Breaded Mushrooms, Garlic Bread, Chicken Coujons. Potato Wedges, Salsa, Sour Cream and Salad.

Although it was a deep fried platter, the food was good quality and tasty.

For a main I went for a Veggie Lasagna, served with chips, garlic bread and salad. I asked for no onions on the salad, which came as requested, but the coleslaw had strong onions in it.  But the bits of salad I picked out had a nice dressing on.

Lasagna was full of huge chunks of veg, tasted home-made and was pretty good.  Chips are home-made and rather yummy.

Others had  Gammon, served with pinapple and egg, and all the trimmings.  He said it was very good.

Pan fried salmon with chips and veg.  He said the Veg was "a bit tasteless" but the salmon was lovely.

Chicken in a creamy garlic sauce.  She enjoyed it very much.

We didn't go for desert, although I did manage to sneak a look at the blackboard, and the offerings looked quite delicious.

For one sharing starter, four mains, two bottles of wine and a soft drink, they bill came just short of £75.00

Would definitely go back, there are three other Veggie options I need to try  :)

Here are the contact details.


Near Boot Inn
Whiteclosegate
Carlisle
Cumbria
CA3 0JA

Telephone
(01228) 540100

Pompeii Steakhouse/Carlisle

It is with a little trepidation that I write this blog, for a Vegetarian visiting a Steak house is probably not the most ideal situation, however....... I was in a group of people who wanted to go so I toddled along.

There are no  photos as it was too dark in the restaurant to take any without industrial flash, and I didn't have the camera with me with the flash on.

So, we had a table booked, and we were seated on a little table behind the main doorway.  As mentioned before it was very dark, so dark in fact that our friend could not manage to read the menu, which was printed on black & red paper.  The waitress was very good, however, and read it out to her.

I chose to have....Portobello mushroom and beef tomato: cooked on the stone served with red onion, rocket and a Dijon mustard and balsamic dressing on toasted ciabatta.

I asked for it without red onion and was told this was fine.  However the side vegetables served with the meal was red onions, mushrooms, peppers and courgettes mixed together, and I couldn't have that without the onions.  As my husband wouldn't eat this either, we asked if it could be swapped for a garlic mushroom side dish.  This was ok.

The others all went for a steak.

The steaks arrived first, carried one at a time, as I imagine the lava stones are quite heavy, and mine arrived last.  I was quite surprised to find a total of three regular sized mushrooms, sliced and cooking on the stone, and six slices of small salad tomato.  The  red onion was very present and had flavoured all the ciabatta on which it lay.   No one came back to do a satisfaction check, there was a large party (perhaps two) in the other room, resulting in us being abandoned somewhat.  Our friends did not get their vegetables either, they had also ordered some garlic mushrooms so presumed they had been swapped as ours was.

The concept of the stone is good for steak, however, trying to eat a boiling hot tomato that doesn't cool down any is not the easiest of things, I had to rest the tomato slices on my bread to cool them down.  The mushrooms just shrivelled up.  But really, I have seen more food as a garnish on a pub food plate.

Finally, at the end of the meal the waitress returned to take our plates, at this point I decided to question the small amount of food.  It went something along the lines of this......

"Food was nice, but I expected a Portobello Mushroom?"

"Oh, yes, sorry meant to say, we ran out"

"And the Beef Tomato?"

"We ran out of those too"

"And I asked for no onions, the salad (as in rocket) was covered in it"

"You didn't ask for salad"

No, the salad that came with the ciabatta and meal, it had onion on it, I asked for no onion"

LOUDER: "You didn't order salad!"

"The salad, comes with the meal, it's on the menu"

SNOTTY "Well, I don't know what comes out of the kitchen"

"Fair enough, well to be honest, I am not happy with paying £9.00 for three small mushrooms and a small tomato"

"I'll speak to the Chef"

With this she left. Ten minutes later she returned and said the Chef said I could have it for £4.50 - which I agreed too.  When the bill arrived the deduction was made, but my friends had been charged for their mushroom dish, by this time we just wanted to leave.

Our friends actually enjoyed their food, but due to the attitude of the waitress it ruined a good night out.

As I said at the start, it seems a bit unfair for a Vegetarian to criticize a Steak House, but you know, there are times, especially if they have to welcome parties, that Vegetarians will have to be catered for, that's why I decided to go ahead and write up my blog.

Feel free to add your own views, would be interested to read them.

Contact details below:

The Pompeii Steakhouse

1-3 Abbey Street
Carlisle
CA3 8TX

www.thepompeiisteakhouse.co.uk
Phone: 01228 402440

The Ship Inn/Pub Food/Carlisle

We trotted along to The Ship Inn on a recommendation that "the chips are excellent".  Well, how could we resist?

Situated in a little Village called Thursby, just a few miles outside of Carlisle towards Wigton.  Not walkable really from Carlisle, there are buses that stop close to the pub, but you would need to check times. There is a large car park behind the pub.

If you park in the car park you can enter the building via the back door, you have to walk through a waft of cigarette smoke though if you are unlucky enough to arrive at a fag break time :)

From here you can turn to the right to go into the bar, or left & down a few stairs to the restaurant area.
 

Nicely set up, in Pub food style rather than restaurant, but having a separate dining area deserves a big "well-done", it makes all the difference to a nice eating experience.  We sat close to the bar, unfortunately right next to a speaker which was screaming out loud pop music.  We did ask for it to be turned down as we could hardly hear ourselves speak, and it was, but a good 10 minutes later.

The menu had plenty of choice and a good few veggie options  (although these are not featured on the online menu at all)

I went for Vegetable Kiev, served with a lovely side salad and a generous portion of home-made chips.  The recommendation pointing us towards the chips was spot on, they were delicious.  The kiev was just a 'drop in the frier' type, but that' ok, the effort was there to put something different on the menu for a Veggie, and that's always appreciated.

Hubby went for his usual Gammon, served with egg, coleslaw, salad & veg, the chips were served separately and it was a rather generous meal.

The waitress was lovely, I tend to think she is perhaps the owner, very friendly and full of chatter.

A nice meal, and the chips are definitely worth going to try.

They have a website.....

http://www.shipinnthursby.co.uk/

The Ship Inn

The Green, 

Thursby,

 Carlisle, 

Cumbria, 

CA5 6PE

Telephone: 01228 710600

Let us know if you go....