Review: The Sizzling Palate (From The Bolton News)

Review: The Sizzling Palate

11:30am Sunday 3rd January 2010 in

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SIZZLING Palate is a restaurant that has intrigued me.

It fades into the background among the busy bars and pubs of Bradshawgate, and you forget it is there. But it looks nice, especially on the website.

The location is slightly off-putting in the heart of the town’s nightlife but as I headed there with a friend on a week night it wasn’t a problem.

We were eating early and were the only people in to start with. We were quickly seated at a table for two in the window.

The décor is modern and stylish. We soon realised the restaurant doesn’t serve alcohol. It wasn’t a problem because it was a “school night” and neither of us were planning to drink anyway but it’s worth bearing in mind if you’re going to pay a visit.

There is a good choice of non-alcoholic drinks and I went for cranapple breeze cocktail (£2.75), which was delicious, and my friend had a mango lassi (£2.25), which she loved.

We started with pappadoms (£2 for four) and dips (£2.95), a must, which were a great start. I then choose onion pakoras at £2.25 which were lovely. My fellow diner had a meat samosa, £2.75, which was described as substantial and tasty.

There’s a good choice of starters from around £2 up to £7. My main dish was the classic, chicken tikka masala, £7.95, and my friend plumped for chicken tikka, £10.99, a sizzler, but the waiter tried to persuade us to be more adventurous. I stuck with my favourite, boring but never mind. My friend changed but only to another of her favoured choices, chicken dopiaza, which wasn’t on the menu and was charged at £7.95. My dish was yummy, nice and creamy. The dopiaza went down well, described as rich, creamy and full of flavour.

The chicken was nice and tender in both meals.

Mains range from £4 to £14, including classic dishes, seafood and sizzlers. We also had one pilau rice, for £1.95, and a garlic naan, costing £1.90.

The meal was washed down with another Cranapple breeze and a glass of tap water.

The staff were pleasant and attentive. The bill came to a reasonable £41.19 with 10 per cent service charge.

The restaurant was virtually full as we left, it’s clearly popular and worth a visit. Just don’t go for a boozy night!