Ahar, Whitley Bay
238 Park View, Whitley Bay, NE26 3QX
(0191)
297 1183
You
might be forgiven for not having come across Ahar in Whitley Bay. The
town has its fair share of curry houses but this one is a little off
the beaten track, right at the end of Park View where the town's
shops end and residential Whitley Bay begins. It's actually closer to
Monkseaton Metro station than Whitley Bay's.
But
it's location gives it something of an advantage. This is a local
restaurant for local people and not simply a Friday night stopover
between pub and club – which, at one time, was the customary fate
of many of Whitley's Indian eateries. As such, it has kept itself to
itself and, it seems, quietly thrived.
It's
fairly small, with a maximum of 50 or so diners on a busy night.
Inside is softly lit, rather plush and elegant, sophisticated even.
Yes, there are chandeliers but no, there is no flock wallpaper. It
has a traditional feel but it's far from dated. It's... well, really
rather nice.
The
waiters are as neatly turned out as the restaurant - smart,
attentive, painfully polite but also totally unobtrusive. It's a neat
trick and I still can't work out how the do it, but they are there
when you need them and they don't keep trying to pour your wine or
straighten your napkin every few minutes.
The
menu isn't bad either. At first glance it all looks a bit ordinary,
with a small collection of vegetarian dishes huddled together at the
bottom on one page in the large-ish menu. But look again and there's
actually around a dozen different dishes there. And keep looking –
there are 16 veggie versions of all the usual curry house standards,
too, plus an extensive range of balti dishes each one with a veggie
option – that's another 10. There's a vegetable biryani, a veggie
thali, tandoori dishes, the list keeps growing. In fact, we counted
38 different vegetarian options on offer plus 13 side dishes which,
for a restaurant which doesn't pretend to be a solely vegetarian
restaurant, is pretty impressive.
Oh,
and there's a tapas menu, too!
The
choice of starters is fairly modest, but the onion bhajias we were
served were soft and flavoursome and the channa chat, which came on a
soft bubbly puri approximately the size of a tea plate, was fragrant
and delicious. It arrived within minutes of ordering despite the
restaurant being pretty busy.
For
our main courses we headed straight for the balti menu, choosing
Vegetable Balti Dhall and Channa Aloo Balti, with plain and vegetable
pillau. The balti dhall was exactly what you'd expect – a
combination of vegetables and dhal mixed together in a thick and
delicious sauce. At first I thought it might be a little dry as the
addition of dahl made the sauce look a little dry and thick, but it
turned out to be pretty much perfect. The channa aloo dish was
equally delicious, with big chunks of firm new potato dancing in a
sea of cooked chick peas with a beautifully mild and flavoursome
sauce.
The
pillau rice was dry and fragrant, the vegetable pillau in particular
a joy to eat – no brightly-coloured jewels of rice or chunks of
carrot and broccoli, this was something much simpler and more
elegant. We also ordered a plain nan which was soft and fluffy and
dressed with melted ghee – perfect.
Portion
size was generous throughout, so much so that we chose to skip the
dessert menu and just ordered a pot of tea. What arrived was a teapot
of pale and subtle Assam (I think), light and elegant and the perfect
end to a meal. The waiter even meticulously served the tea to each of
us at our table, a level of service I'd never encountered in an
Indian restaurant before. It seemed wholly fitting.
Ahar
clearly works hard to ensure people leave satisfied. The level of
service, the speed with which the food is prepared and delivered,
indeed the quality of the food itself, all point to a restaurant that
clearly takes its responsibilities seriously. We were hugely
impressed. The menu was extensive and we loved the ambience, too,
though I can see why some people might find it a little staid and
traditional. But Ahar clearly understands what its customers want and
effortlessly provides the kind of relaxing and luxurious experience
you'd expect from a far more expensive and upmarket restaurant.
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