The Painted Heron

Want to eat Indian but tired of the same old food served up by your local curry house? Then head down to the Painted Heron, where you'll be sure of a pleasant surprise.

From the moment you enter the waiters devote their attention to you, ensuring a slick service that would put most restaurants to shame.

First out are the poppadoms, which come with a variety of sauces that your average curry house wouldn't even dream of. Who would ever have thought that beetroot raita, melon chutney or fresh garlic pickle could be so delicious?

This innovation is carried over in the main courses. The menu isn't extensive, and could certainly do with more vegetarian options, but most of the menu uses ingredients you wouldn't normally associate with Indian food. Our shitake mushroom starter, served with rocket and various blobs of pickle, was extremely tasty, as were our main courses of rock shrimp biryani, cauliflower in tamraind sauce and mashed paneer and peas.

We didn't have room for everything (my partner was served enough biryani for four), but they were quite happy for us to take the leftovers home with us.

All in all, a great experience and well worth the money.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Monday, June 05, 2006

I organised a birthday lunch here for 15 people. Admittedly, the restaurant was pretty empty but we were given first rate service and food to match. This is an excellent restaurant and I would recommend it to anyone looking for top quality Indian food south of the river.
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Michael Ranson
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Monday, April 24, 2006