Review of 'Naaz'
A while ago we visited Arol Thai for an excellent meal in our home town of Nantwich but noticed as we left that the place just beside it, an Indian restaurant called “Naaz” was extra busy. It was duly added to our list and we duly visited early on a Friday November evening just after the Christmas lights in the town square were turned on for the season.
Naaz does a huge business in takeaway but has a wonderful, fun interior stretching quite a ways back. There is a small bar area at the front where you can pick up or order delivery but there are a large number of tables available here to soak up the atmosphere. We were seated in a booth right against the back wall near the toilets (not normally a good sign but not a problem here). The interior decor is quite modern with some interesting works of art on the walls and displays of various artefacts – empty beer kegs in the rafters above our table – scattered around the place. This all screams to me of a restaurant keeping up with the times and offering a fun atmosphere for it's clients.
The dining in menu is extensive at 8 pages (the take out menu is condensed to three) and we were a bit overwhelmed. It featured the standard Indian restaurant options as well as few more unusual ones: “Appetisers”, “Tandoori Dishes”, “Tandoori Curry Dishes”, “Naaz Specialties”, “Karai Dishes”, “Chicken Dishes”, “Meat Dishes”, “Prawn Dishes”, “King Prawn Dishes”, “Vegetarian Dishes”, “Balti Dishes”, “Biryani Dishes”, “English Dishes” (steak, omelettes, fried chicken, etc), “Side Dishes”, “Rice”, and “Sundries” followed by the wine (drink) list. They also have two “set meals”, “A” for “non vegetarian” and “B” for “vegetarian”. Having been overwhelmed by the choice and this being our first visit we opted for set menu A which comprised (deep breath) “Poppadoms & Chutney, Mixed Special (Starter), Mixed Tandoori Balti, Mixed Bhuna, Special Pilau & Aloo Gobi Bhaji, and Garlic Naan” at £40.95 for two people or £70.95 for four people. Despite it being for two people we learned as our meal went on that our choice could easily have fed at least three..
The tried and trusted poppadoms were duly delivered fresh and crispy to our table a short time after ordering with the normal assortment of chutneys: Raw onion, mango chutney, yoghurt, and lime pickle (yuck!). Very good chutneys with plenty of flavour. The meal came with only two poppadoms so we ordered a couple extra (which we were not charged for) to pick up more of the chutneys.
On the drink side, my companion ordered a beer (£3.25) while I ordered some lassi (Indian yoghurt drink). I had noticed on the menu they only had sweet or salty so asked the waiter if they could do a mango lassi instead, which I most prefer. I was told this was indeed available (£5.95) but only in a pitcher…which is quite a lot for one person but my companion gamey agreed to drink some as well. It was probably the best mango lassi I have ever had – full of sweet mango flavour that balanced nicely with the yoghurt bitterness.
We were both given a generous plate of mixed starters which included bhaji, tandoori meats and salad. This was presented very well and each item was tasty and fresh.
The mains came all at once and were somewhat overwhelming. Everything had a wonderful taste. The garlic naan is not something I would normally order as it is quite bland preferring instead the flavourful peshwari naan. There was the perfect amount of pilau rice to use with the various dishes and helping soak up the wonderful sauces. All of the dishes but one were mild with the spicy one not exactly “blow the head off” hot.
An extraordinary amount of food for two people and we were quite full by the end…not exactly helped by the extra poppadoms and the pitcher of lassi…We gave a miss on the, thankfully, rather boring desserts (normal ice cream, etc options).
The prices are quite reasonable, the food fresh and full of flavour and the staff are very friendly with the food delivered promptly after ordering. I would certainly recommend Naaz quite wholeheartedly as the best Indian in Nantwich.
Rating: “I have absolutely no complaints”
Review Date: 2022-11-18
Cuisine: Indian
Address: 13 Pillory St, Nantwich, Cheshire CW5 5BZ ENGLAND
Location: Cheshire (England) - Nantwich
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Telephone: +44 (0) 1270 629800
URL: http://www.naaznantwich.co.uk/