Grassing on the lemon

Published 22 Feb 2010 09:00 0 Comments

By Mike Swift

THE Lemon Grass is not another name for the lemon who snitched on the orange, but for Cymbopogon, a genus of about 55 species of grasses native to warm, temperate and tropical regions of Asia and Oceania.

It is also a fine Indian restaurant in north Maidenhead where Berkshire Media Group's photographic team dined for their monthly get together.

There is plenty of parking available and the fabulously authentic Indian/Bangladeshi cuisine was a delight. When you arrive and sit down, a really nice touch is that all the women's menus are pink and all the gentlemens' are blue.

We started with the usual poppadoms, that arrived in seconds. The appetisers/starters ranged from £2.50 for a samosa to £6.95 for the special mixed starter or garlic king prawns.

Other interesting starters included tandoori malai chops, lamb chops marinated in cream cheese and garnished with ginger julienne and served with salad, good value I thought at £4.50.

At the same price was fish tikka, spiced fillets of Bengal tiger fish delicately cooked over charcoal (pictured left) which we loved.

The main courses are listed in a very straightforward way and there are the usual kormas, madrases and vindaloos, ranging in price from £5.75 to £6.50, with chicken tikka massala coming in at £7.25.

Balti lovers were well catered for with dishes ranging from £6.95 for the veggie to £11.95 for the king prawn, with chicken and lamb favourites at £7.95.

If you like your curry on the hot side like me then go for the jalfrezi and if you like it hot and sweet, the dhansak is one of the best I have tasted anywhere.

We had a special request for the chef too - one of us wanted a duck shashlik, which the restaurant was happy to make.

The shashlik came under the tandoori specialities menu and there is a choice of 10 dishes ranging from £6.50 to £11.95 for a king prawn dish.

The Lemon Grass specials menu is the best though with a choice of 13 marvellous meals. Its piece de resistance is golda chingri pardanashi, which is Goan-style, medium-hot spicy king prawns, served in the shell of a baby coconut.

Pilau rice is £2.25 and a peshwari nan will set you back the same. A bottle of house white is £12.

If you are looking for a good curry in Maidenhead with all the usual dishes at a reasonable price but can't decide whether you fancy strips of duck breast in a rich ginger gravy with cinnamon and garam massala, accompanied with fresh salad and a pint of Kingfisher, then The Lemon Grass will persuade you that you do.

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This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 18 Feb 10

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