Indian Garden, Easingwold – excellent food at an affordable price
What does it take to make a good restaurant? Obviously the food needs to be consistently good, and the service has to be of a high standard, and the décor and ambience have to be right too. As well as these, it has to provide what you want at a price you can afford. The Indian Garden in Easingwold more than measures up on all these criteria.
Like most people, Lizzie and I enjoy dining out when we get the chance, and since it opened in Easingwold six or seven months ago the Indian Garden (part of the renowned Jaipur Spice family of restaurants) has become one of our favourite places to go – either just the two of us or with friends or family.
It all starts as you enter the door: you’re greeted warmly by (usually) either Wasim, the Head Waiter, or Fad, the General Manager. The tables are neatly laid and the rooms are decorated to provide a warm and cosy feel.
As with most Indian restaurants the menu is extensive, and there’s something for just about everyone (if you have any special requirements, the chefs will try and accommodate you). Lizzie and I don’t eat meat, so finding something we like when dining out can be a problem. This certainly isn’t the case in the Indian Garden as there are lots of fish and shellfish dishes, as well as vegetarian dishes aplenty to choose from.
We don’t always have a starter, but when we do it’s generally poppadoms with pickles. The Indian Garden provide a delicious range of pickles, including three types of spicy sauce (one sweet, one hot and one – the lime pickle – which is very hot), chopped onions, chutney and a raita.
The main courses are of a very high standard whether it’s a sizzling tandoori dish or a vegetarian biryani, a rogan josh or a dansak. There’s a good selections of naans, side dishes and rices (Lizzie favours the lemon rice, whilst I usually have the mushroom pilau). We can also recommend all the king prawn dishes most highly.
The Indian Garden have a good wine list and offer a range of beers and lagers to accompany the meal, and they also have a good selection of liqueurs too. As is fairly standard in Indian restaurants, the desserts are limited to ice creams; we have a liking for the traditional mango kulfi – small, cool and very refreshing.
Throughout the meal the food is presented in a most attractive and mouth-watering way, and we’ve always found the service to be nothing less than excellent – the perfect mix of friendliness and responsiveness.
And when, at the end of a really good meal you ask for the bill, you’ll find it comes with mint chocolates – the perfect way to finish a great meal.
The Indian Garden
Windross House, Market Square, Easingwold, YO61 3AG
Telephone: 01347 821 900