This venue has often intrigued me because it looks reet swank and has a massive plasma screen on the wall. So on saturday nights I walk past and see people eating a curry and watching Match of the Day. Which seems like an eminently sensible combination of resources. Likewise, when I see England playing India in the cricket and people are sat watching over their jalfrezi. What a brilliant concept! I liked the cut of this curry houses' jib already.
(Edit - just found it has a webiste as well. Winner. http://www.al-mirage.co.uk/index.html
The final paragraph in the about us section made me chuckle. Tooting is the new Milan! Fair play for the website though. Need to check for these more.)
Present were:
Berry7.
Big Dunc.
Spice Jet farmer.
Lurch.
Desmond.
Nick.
Matt + missus.
Steedane.
Jag
For a midweek get together this was a good effort! We rocked in and were offered the £12 eat all you can type deal. Actually I think you were limited to one starter and main course but it would clearly be enough and it included drinks. Alcohol is banned though so you couldn't abuse this deal to get drunk. It was mango lassis all round. We declined the deal because we wanted to see how the bill fared, a la carte. Bring it on please.
The poppadoms were swift and the dips already laid out. We were soon clattering through hearty mango chutney and mint condiments but we were all pleasantly surprised by the cherry dip. Was it a chutney? Can't really remember but it was something I'd never had before. Marks for originality. The starters came after with chicken tikka, onion bhajia, chilli paneer, some fish and kebab. The bhajia came first and it was seriously tasty. Hopes were high after this. It had loads of flavour and the onion was nicely cooked. We sensed a good venue.
Sadly though this was possibly the high point of the meal. The kebab was spicy and enjoyable, the tikka not bad, the fish was pretty bland and rather like the deep fried fare out of a pub and the chilli paneer lacked any real flavour. The cheese itself was excellent but the sauce was "like a campbell's tomato soup." Quote of one of the TCC sat near me. It really was a bit disappointing.
In between the starters I checked out the toilets, which were sparkling, and then returned back downstairs, in the disabled lift. This looked like something out of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Quite brilliant and it took me a lot of bravery to use it for some reason. Possibly the personal highlight of the night.
The mains then came and we had a large selection to get through, due to the number of attendees. Fish masala, chicken methi, chicken tava, chicken jalfrezi, balti methi lamb, tropical lamb, gutarati lamb and lamb tikka jalfrezi rolled out towards us. Accompanied by rice and naans, this was looking pretty massive! The mains were ok and at times I enjoyed sampling the ones I had not had before but something was lacking. Someone said it was like they used a stock base for all the sauces and adapted them slightly without real ingenuity. Campbell's tomato soup was noticeable a couple of times and no matter how hard I tried to feel some sort of love for the food there wasn't a huge amount I could muster. They were all fine, don't get me wrong, but they didn't excite me. The naans were not bad, again, but nothing amazing and the keema naan was like eating a brick. It all got a bit hard going at the end.
Big Dunc achieved some hero status by polishing off ALL the left overs, which was a horrible amount. It takes quite a lot to impress simple people like ourselves but this was a display of eating not to be ignored. I actually thought he might die. Good work big man. (Edit: See below for an action shot. He looks like a yank in one of those eating contests. )
So, onto the scores.
The place - 8 out of 10. It rocked. Spiral staircase, disabled lift, cctv, massive plasma screen, clean as you like and glittering toilets (in a good way like). This was a great venue. I wanted to give it 9 for the plasma screen alone but I was shouted down. As curry houses go, a good venue nonetheless.
The Service - 7 out of 10. Quick and efficient and with no messing about, the waiters looked after us really well. Slightly marked down because they recommended the fish starter and it was pretty bland and our order was wrong on the mains. Now, he had read it back to us but only to one guy at the end of the table and when it transpired that one dish was wrong, we got a bit of a moody look, as if we should just get on with it. We weren't being difficult, we just wanted it corrected. Never good to feel guilty about these things. On the whole though the service was good and the waiters chatty.
Starters and Sundries - 6 out of 10. A bit disappointing but buoyed by the cherry dip and onion bhajia. Overall the starters just didn't excite and the sundries were a little average. Nothing terrible but nothing amazing either.
Curry - 5.5 out of 10. Even less inspiring than the starters. It just lacked any real bite or flavour and whilst the tropical lamb or the fish were nice, most of the dishes lacked any real excitement. I just expected a bit better to be honest. It's hard to explain but all of us came away feeling it just about did the job. Nothing more.
Value for Money - 6 out of 10. The bill came out at about £12 a head so the deal looks spot on really. They had obviously done their maths. Whilst this wasn't expensive as such, given the mango lassis and array of naans, for pure value it lost out. For that amount of money you could do better I think and value does not equate directly to cheapness. Again you may be paying for the venue.
Total - 32.5 out of 50. A kind of nothing mark really. Above average in that it didn't end up as a 25 or less but just a bit disappointing. Nothing left me feeling like the venue had done something special but similarly it did nothing terrible. It was all of a good enough standard but nothing more. I think if you strolled in off the street that you'd be contented when you left but maybe not impressed. The venue is great and the spiral staircase and tv make it worth the visit in my book. But it's not actual curry is it!?
The happy meal was:
Tarka Dall - £2.95
Plain Rice - £1.50
Plain Naan - 60p
Sweet Lassi - £1.40
Total - £6.45. Pretty cheap in fairness.
So I think this place has a place in Tooting's array of curry vendors. I think this would be my choice if it was saturday night and I'm coming back from the pub or the football and I want to eat and watch Match of the Day with my mates. Or maybe the cricket was on and you could go along and get involved and have some banter with the staff. Sadly though you cannot drink here which kind of undermines that concept of merry sports viewing. As a venue though it is not bad but when placed in between Lahore and Mirch Masala, you have to wonder if it gets much business for anything other than its decor.
Berry7
1 comment:
The word "Mirage" has very serious religious implications which these people obviously do not know about and all Muslims will find it offensive to say it "sounds like a porn star". I am surprised the owners have not taken action against this. I am an asian and a regular vistor of Al-Mirage restaurant who have a excellent reputation in the surrounding area for good healthy asian food. I am amazed that in the Tooting Curry Club there is not a single asian person also the comments made by them do not reflect on what "real" asian food is supposed to taste like. The "adapted" taste is what is preferred by these people. They have not also seen when the restaurant is packed out. I always make a reservation now to ensure I get a table. I went to wedding reception at the "Holiday In" and Al-Mirage did the catering there. So many good comments were being made about the food. I think the main problem these people have is that no alcohol is allowed.
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