Haveli The Yard, Upper Maudlin Street, Bristol, Review
Bristolians have come to rely on the town centre as being the place where you can get an authentic curry in a friendly curry house and Haveli The Yard is a new addition which will surely soon be everyone’s favourite. It’s comforting to know that it’s a family owned business – Shahid Farooq, previously of the famous Rajpoot in Clifton and Oh Calcutta on Cheltenham Road, has introduced his son, Amir, into the fold and they are both enthusiastic about their new venture. The bottom line is always about excellence; the quality of the food, and ensuring each customer has a great experience.
The interior is muted golds and browns with plush chairs and plenty of space; the restaurant is large enough to accommodate big parties without disturbing diners in twos or fours. The evening that we called in they were playing host to an after-wedding party which was lovely as the bride and groom were having pictures taken in various nooks (and under the large lit-up sign which says ‘wow’) and I was able to admire the bride’s beautiful dress and sparkly jewellery with some amount of envy.
There is a fully fledged cocktail bar with more gins than you can count and an interesting collection of special glasses for each cocktail; you are able to pop in for just a drink but if you are sensible you would never be able to resist the delicious aromas emanating from the kitchen, even if it was for only one course. The menu is a nice mix of traditional curries, special chef’s dishes, and Tandoori oven cooked meats, plus of course the usual naan breads, pickle tray, papadums and side dishes.
We began with vegetable samosas and calamari, the calamari being cooked in a wok, with peppers, moniagne, onions and baby sweetcorn with fresh lime. This really was the star of the starters, delicately spiced and unspoiled by batter every mouthful was perfect. For my main course I chose from the classic curries, chicken bhuna, and my dinner guest, chicken tikka from the tandoori, plus garlic naan breads, a side dish of aloo ghobi, and pilau rice. Luckily we’d been given a table for four, rather than just two, as when it was served the many dishes filled the table, a feast indeed!
We enjoyed our main courses very much, the chicken bhuna (a recommendation from Shahid who said he had had it for his supper that very evening) was supremely tasty with just enough heat to make it interesting, and both this and the tandoori chicken was some of the best we’ve eaten for a long time. This is a great place to eat, the bill was most reasonable and we had a lovely time.
Jacquie Vowles
