Bharat 30/12/2009

Attendees: Jeff, Jess, Fran, Claire, Ben, Win, Jaz, Lynda and John

At last – Bharat - worth the wait? The 3 to 4 month wait? I think so.

Barat is a small restaurant, decorated in the ‘flock wall paper’ style, and is tucked away, way up Great Horton Road.

I booked a table over a week prior to visiting, and I half expected (not unreasonably I thought) our table to be ready on arrival. Unfortunately this was not the case, probably due to the restaurant being packet to the rafters with people that appeared not to be any kind of rush. This was not a problem because Bharat is licenced, and it is amazing how quickly time passes with a pint of larger in the hand. We eventually sat down about 1/2hr later.

No poppadoms were offered immediately upon being seated, but were duly ordered, but strangely the ‘pickle tray’ that arrived only included onion salad?? We had more or less finished our poppadoms before somebody asked for mango Chuckey. The starter’s proper compried a wide variety of fare spread across the table. No mixed grill option, so I settled on kebabs. No complaints from me there. The pick of the starters, for me, was called ‘pastee’ or ‘patisse’ or something or something like that I think, and was a kind of spicy potato ball. It tasted strongly of coriander and was a unique and tasty alternative to the norm.

My Jalfrazi main course was ace – possible the pick of the mains around the table from what I tasted – and was a little different to what I’ve experienced before. Visually, the dish would probably not look too out of place in a Chinese restaurant, I suppose, what with oval plate stacked up with strips of chicken and peppers, and a loose, but good strong tasting sauce, over the top. The dish was slightly different to a normal Bradford Jalfrazi and well worth a try. My garlic naan was quite small and just cut into quarters on a side plate. I say small but that is when compared to the continental quilt sized naan breads, seen hanging from scaffolds around Bradford.

The service was pretty god and the lady – who seemed to be the top dog – was very friendly and accommodating. I like to see women working in Bradford restaurants – it’s a pretty rare sight.

So yes, Bharat was worth the wait and I think the Indian heritage of some of the food was evident, and made an interesting alternative. I will defo return.