Breakfast a Study #3 Amaan's Grill House

Been wanting to re-visit Amaan's Grill House for a good while now, and especially for a Breakfast.  We've tried on the odd occasion mid week, but it's always been shut in the morning.  Closer inspection of the opening hours, however, revealed Amaan's is only really open at Breakfast time at the weekend. DOH!

I understand the guy's who opened Amaan's were once employees of Lumb Lane's Sweet Centre and as such provided a mean Brekkie.  This really needed sampling.

Isabella - my long suffering daughter - and I rocked up to Amaan's at about 11:30am, so was more 'Brunch' time than anything else.  This was good as Izzy could have a bowl of chips without me feeling too guilty, and we'd tell Mother it was lunch!

So chips - again - for Izzy!  I had Chana Aloo, a Partha (no puri's at Amaan's) and a Desi Tea.  We perched on a little bar to the back of the restaurant on high swivel chairs (Izzy's fave) and watched Chef set to in the open kitchen.  It was encouraging to see our paratha being rolled out from fresh dough, and the chana being made from scratch right in front of our eyes.

The Breakfast was very good.  The plentiful bowl of steaming chickpeas and potato was tasty and a little fiery.  The sauce possessed just enough substance to hold the main ingredients in suspension and clingy enough to adhere to chunks of Paratha passed its way.   The Chana was a tad salty if I was to be very critical!  The Paratha was of the plain variety, and was crispy and flakey, and had that comforting fried bread taste.  It worked very well with the very tasty chana and help calm the onslaught of the taste buds.  I didn't miss the lack of puri's at all - as I thought I would - and the paratha was perfect.  I was pelased with my first try of Desi Tea too.  Sweet, milky and slightly spiced tea was more akin to traditional English Tea than the pink Kashmiri Tea I have tried else where.  Went well with the Brakfast solids.

All round excellent.  We are talking £2 for the Chana and £1.50 for the Partha!  These are the unsubstantial sums of money we are taking here.  Worth every single penny.

NEW Pakeezah Food2Go Cafe

From the ashes of the recently fire damaged Ingleby Road branch of the Pakeezah Supermarket, rises a mighty Phoenix in the form of the Food2Go Cafeteria on Manningham Lane.

We first became aware of the Pakeezah Food2Go concept first simply through word of mouth, then through visiting the in-store eateries.  Although kind of glorified supermarket cafes, the Pakeezah Food2Go ones were excellent.  Pre-made curry heated up, but with fresh bread and grilled stuff.  An excellent idea.

Curry Deli Counter

So, now, the new Food2Go cafe is now open on Manningham Lane, and has taken the original supermarket cafe a step further... basically by ditching the supermarket bit!  On entering, a large deli style counter greats you immediately, and is stuffed full of say twenty ready made chilled curries!  These can be either bought and taken home or heated and eaten in.  Great stuff.  Then behind are the tandors and grill etc.  At one end (see picture above) are a few chiller and freezer cabinets with other stuff such as lassi, dips, chutneys, etc.  No sweet counter though I noticed?

Samosa Chat

For this, our what I'm sure is going to be the first of many visits, we popped in for a basic nosy and a quick dinner, so rather than one of the tasty looking full blown curries, me and the Mrs went for our favorite Samosa Chat.  It was fantastic here as it always was - not that was any reason it wouldn't be.  Now presented on trendy rectangular platters, it remained the same very tasty crushed samosas smothered in chickpea and potato curry, yogurt and sour tamarind.  I went for hot - so in addition had a generous scattering of chili and raw onion, and BANG!  It was hot!  Brilliant.  We also had lassi and a Falooda.  Izzy had chips.  TUT!

So if you've not ever been to the Pakeezah cafes in the supermarkets before, then now there is no excuse. They really are worth a go.  Not a  restaurant experience, but very good quality, plenty of variety, and brilliant value for money.  You can eat your dinner then take home another meal for your tea!  Double bonus.