56-58 Queens Rd, Clarendon Park, Leicester LE2 1TU
No Website
27/40
Our March outing saw us visit an old friend of curry lovers- Friends. They were based on the Melton Road for 26 years ran by the Pabla family and closed in 2008, but the new venue on Queens Road is still ran by the Pabla’s three brothers in fact. Parking is on the main road or one of the many side streets so this is not a problem.
We were greeted by our waiter and shown to a nice large table next to the bar which had Carlsberg on draft, and even an offer of some Old Speckled Hen and non-alcoholic lager which were winners for a few of our members. We ordered the obligatory papadoms and pickle tray which, when we asked for another tray, was not an issue and another pickle tray arrived promptly.
We ordered 1 Tawa chicken, 1 chicken Jalfrezi, 2 chicken Tikka Jalfrezi (one “as hot as you can make it”) and 1 chicken chana Saag (this was not on the menu but they were happy to oblige). To accompany our mains we ordered 2 Peshwari naans and 1 plain naan, a boiled rice and 2 mushroom rice. Although we couldn’t really fault the food, the general consensus was that the food was quite average. We couldn’t point our finger on a particular issue, it was just no one raved about any of their dishes as we would usually do.
The restaurant is very spacious and clean with a well-stocked bar, the staff were all helpful and one of the owners introduced himself which was a nice touch. The bill was £140 for 5 of us, but once you deduct the drink at £55, made it £17 a head which is pretty average.