Septembers pick was 7h Spices on Coventry Road in Hinckley which according to the current trip advisor scores surely was destined to take the 2018 crown. It specialises in South Indian cuisine just like our August choice so would serve as a great comparison.

I used the online booking service which is within the restaurant’s comprehensive website, a confirmation email confirmed my booking and also a further email on the day reminding me where we were destined to go and at what time.

There is plenty of free parking after 6pm just around the corner. The premises has a small frontage but opens out into a very large dining area, and although the lighting is a little dull it is well decorated and the toilets very clean and serviceable.

It is clearly a very popular choice as the restaurant was very busy which is a great sign on a Wednesday evening. We were given a round table, and the remaining places were promptly taken away, and the table reset. This restaurant has very nice staff and the chef makes an appearance which is a nice touch.

So onto the food and drink……

So we all went for the mandatory poppadoms which did not seem hot at all; however some restaurants do serve them cold, the pickle trays (2) were very comprehensive with lots of new things we hadn’t currently tried and were refilled when requested. The Mongoose was nicely chilled although during the evening the speed of the drinks service did get a little slow for some of the members!

We ordered an array of curries and certainly a special mention to the Nalli Elumbu and the Chettinad Kozhi which had fantastic south Indian sauces that we ordered at Madras strength. One nice touch was that all the dishes also came with a nice portion of a diced potato mix, and also the speciality dishes include rice which was upgraded to vegetable pilau with no fuss at all. One of our members who likes his curry at the very top limit of heat ordered the Erachi Aadu which managed to satisfy him.

We ordered coffee and brandy to finish the meal, and the chef then appears to serve the coffee in a traditional style which really has to be witnessed (see video on this page or click here to watch).

The bill worked out at £22.00 per person which is remarkable value for money bearing in mind the extra touches that the restaurant includes and I would thoroughly recommend this establishment.

*Although Septembers choice was mine (the author) and I really believe that it should be winning the year not all members agreed and after a heated debate ensued on the way home and after much disagreement, it is currently lying in 2nd place for 2018. These heated disagreements although unpleasant for us all do demonstrate that Indian food remains personally subjective. Why can’t the other members like what I do !!