Asha's

I have written previously about the background of Asha’s. The menu is extensive and expensive. For example, a lassi, which is just a mix of yogurt, sugar and water, was priced at a fairly ambitious £7.75 (compared to £5 at Koyal) though to be fair it can be even pricier in Mayfair (£11 at Benares, for example). The dining room is vast, with numerous sections, and is very smartly decorated. There was an eclectic selection of music tonight: from lounge music to tango music to bhangra and back again. The wine list was fairly extensive but entirely omitted vintages, even for serious bottles such as Dom Perignon and Cristal. I drank beer, with Stella Artois at £4.95 a bottle (compared to its price of £1.04 retail at Asda). 

Popadoms (£3.95) were crisp and came with a choice of chutneys including lime pickle, mango chutney and mint chutney. Amritsar fish (£14.25) comprised four generous pieces of tilapia that had been seasoned with carom seeds and mint and then fried. The fish was tender and were enlivened with a pleasing kick of spice (14/20). Keralan chilli garlic prawns (£28.95) were, as at my previous visit, the star of the show. Five large prawns were marinated and then char-grilled. They were perfectly cooked, tasting nicely of their marinade of garlic, chilli and spices (easily 15/20).

Chettinad curry (£23.75) was pleasant rather than thrilling. This was a dish from Chettinad in Tamil Nadu, a city of palaces popular with tourists and with its trademark chicken curry (actually there are quite a few variations), reproduced here. The sauce, based around onions and tomatoes, included curry leaves, fennel, sesame seeds, chilli and ground coconut and was fine, quite dark and rich and spicy. The chicken itself, though, despite being marinated in yoghurt, was a little drier and stringier than it should have been, and did not have much flavour in itself (12/20).

Aloo gobi (£14.45) was reasonable, though some pieces of the potato and cauliflower had retained their texture better than others (13/20). Better was the classic makhani dhal (£14.45), which had superb texture, with the lentils retaining just a little bite, the sauce being dark and rich and complex (15/20). Pilau rice was well made, as well it might be at £8.45. Romali roti (£5.45) was very good tonight, better than I recall at my previous visit. This was soft and supple, as was garlic naan, also priced at £5.45 (14/20).

Service was generally fine, but could have been slicker. Starters arrived with a “who ordered what?”, which is acceptable in a simple neighbourhood restaurant but not so much when you are paying £100 a head. One supplementary beer order was forgotten and had to be chased. The bill per person was £103 each, so this is clearly not a cheap night out in Birmingham. Nonetheless, on this Monday night the place was busy, despite its scale, so it obviously has its customer niche worked out well.

Further reviews: 05th Feb 2024