Hi All,
As promised we have kicked off our first review with a local Indian restaurant.
Dilshad Restaurant
618 – 620 Bristol Road
Selly Oak
Birmingham
B29 6BQ
0121 472 5016
info@dilshad.uk.com
http://www.dilshad.uk.com/
Opening Hours
Sunday – Thrusday: 5.30pm-1.00am
Friday – Saturday: 5.30pm-3.00am
Including Banks Holidays
Ratings
Service – 5
Described by ‘The Brunette’ as ‘utilitarian’ – it certainly reflected a policy of serve and deliver without that extra mile.
Food – 8
As always cannot be faulted – we left stuffed but certainly satisfied.
Ambiance – 4
Unfortunately Tuesdays just aren’t the night to dine in Dilshad, although the strange 90’s music was amusingly nostalgic.
Value – 8
Despite the problems with the service the value for money is clear.
Total Percentage – 62.5%
We would hope that on a busier night this could go back up to its more usual 75-80%.
Dilshad (which translates as ‘heart’s happiness’) located on Bristol Road in Selly Oak has long been our favourite Indian restaurant – not just in Selly Oak but the whole of Birmingham. Its consistently good food and friendly service mean we frequent here quite often.
Dilshad is a modest establishment, with seating arranged comfortably close for a more intimate evening with your guests…and occasionally others! The two rooms on offer are very different – the first you enter contains a small bar, but also the entrance, and kitchen door, meaning it can seem rather hectic and disturbed. The second room is a quieter and separated from the other room by a screen wall. The lighting is kept dim,
and the music low – again to aid a more intimate evening with your diners.
However, our long overdue visit on Tuesday left us longing for a return to its noticeably lost standards. Now we mustn’t be unfair – it was a Tuesday so of course a lack of atmosphere might be acceptable…but what was to unfold has left the top spot for Indian restaurant in Brum open.
We decided not to book our table as Tuesdays are never very busy at Dilshad, even during student term time. We invited a couple of friends along with us, namely ‘The Brunette’ and ‘Dr M’ (whose profiles will shortly be found on our ‘Reviewer Profiles’ page) who have helped us in reviewing and rating this restaurant. For details on how our reviews and ratings are compiled see the ‘About’ page.
Our arrival at around 7pmwas met with a mediocre welcome – but nevertheless we received a nice table for four away from the door (not least because we were the only people there). After receiving menus we immediately received complimentary poppadoms with a selection of dips including chilli sauce, mint raita and an onion and cucumber salad. Nothing spectacular to report about these. Always a fun start to a meal.
After what seemed like 10 seconds we had been seated, received menus, not even managed to touch our poppadoms and suddenly we were racing through the wine list at the behest of the seemingly impatient waiter.
The wine list itself was reasonably priced – it has to be in an area dominated by students who often opt for nearby restaurants with a ‘BYOB’ policy. The house wines are very reasonable at £8.95 a bottle, or £2.75 a glass. We ordered our usual bottle of house white, which was speedily delivered and poured into our four waiting glasses. It was very nice for the price, dry yet refreshing especially suited to a spicier curry.
Again, with more urgency we were asked for our food order. Luckily we all have our favourites on the menu.
It was at this crucial point that ‘The Brunette’ initiated our ‘WOBBLY WINE CHALLENGE,’ an incident in which she spilt her wine to test the waiter’s response. This spillage had actually only occurred by mistake… however it seemed as good a time as any to see how attentive the waiter really was. We were very disappointed. He didn’t even batter an eyelid – even when we frantically searched for napkins to mop it up! This
is made worse by the fact that it actually happened whilst we were ordering our meals, right in front of the waiter. FAIL… (Big thanks to the ‘The Brunette’ though, the ‘Wobbly Wine or Water Challenge’ – depending on how skint we are – should feature regularly in our reviews).
Despite this we ploughed on and ordered our meals. We opted for Butter Chicken priced at £7.45, Mango Chicken at £7.95, Champa Koli Bahar at £8.95 and Balti Chicken Sagwalla (Spinach and Garlic) at £5.95. The first three meals formed part of the specialities menu and all come with a ‘half portion of pilau rice’ (although you certainly wouldn’t want anymore). Being the foodies that we are we also ordered an extra ‘family size’ Peshwari Naan for £5.95.
The menu on a whole offers a wide variety of starters, mains and sundries (sides) to cater for all tastes. The menu includes 23 speciality meals, 11 variants of curry, 11 variants of balti and 8 different biryanis. Set menus are also offered, for those more indulgent evenings. Spicy meals are clearly stated and there is also a large selection of vegetarian options including an impressive 10 side orders which can be prepared
as main courses if requested. English dishes are also available for those who might have been forced to go for a curry. Most expensive meals are the Oriental King Prawn and King Prawn Tawa dishes at £11.20 however they feature on the specialities menu so are served with half a portion of pilau rice, not bad considering king prawn dishes are always going to be a bit more expensive. A full menu can be found on their website – where it must also be noted that they do home delivery as well!
Not a single complaint about the food – true to form Dilshad had maintained its excellent food quality. The Butter Chicken was creamy and rich and the Mango Chicken sweet and tender. The Balti Chicken Sagwalla though visually unattractive, impressed with taste for ‘Dr M’, whilst ‘The Brunette’s’ Champa Koli Bahar (a dish of chicken and lamb tikka cooked in a bhuna style sauce) looked incredible and tasted the part too! Eight stars for food Dilshad!
After gorging on all that food and being beaten by the gigantic family naan (which we were allowed to take home – and still couldn’t face eating), we decided desserts were a step too far. The desert list was a little predictable – all bought in pre-made ice cream desserts. If you’re looking for some authentic Indian desserts like kulfi, gulab jamun or halwa then unfortunately this isn’t the place for you!
At the end of the meal we were brought out some hot towels to clean our hands on – which is always amusing as you watch everyone on the table pretend that this normally happens after every meal they eat! Our exit was as unenthusiastic as our welcome, no ‘goodbye’ or no one to open the door for us as we left which has happened every other time we’ve been. Service was definitely a bit off the norm this evening.
Our final bill came to a surprisingly cheap £45.20 for the four of us. Considering everything we had ordered this is excellent value for money! Dilshad may not be the cheapest curry house in Selly Oak however the little extra you do pay really shows in the quality and taste of the food.
It must be said that at the start of this review we mentioned that Dilshad had been our favourite Indian restaurant in all of Birmingham and this currently still stands. Its service may have dropped slightly but the food has remained excellent quality. We are more than hopeful that if we dined on a busier night the service would also improve – as well as the atmosphere. Our previous experience of Dilshad has put it in our top 10 in Birmingham every time – this visit was probably just bad luck.
Don’t be put off by this review – Dilshad still holds the top spot in Selly Oak for us so far and we will definitely be back!
Happy dining,
YumBrum!
P.S. Review in a Rhyme, by ‘The Brunette’:
Dilshad, oh Dilshad your food is always great!
However on this occasion your waiter and food
didn’t share the same proverbial plate!
But I’ll forgive you that as Tuesdays are at a slower pace
which is ironic
because you made us order with such haste!
In conclusion readers don’t be put off by Dilshad,
it’s still a great place to take your Mum and Dad!
YumBrum! 