The Khayber

Mrs M and I decided to have a change from our usual Indian (of the Ocean variety) restaurant last time we were out, before heading off to the cinema, and thought we’d give the long established Khyber a try.
Chances are we’re biased, due to our love of a very close rival, but neither of us were particularly impressed. Especially myself, given that I didn’t get to see much of the film afterwards, as I was otherwise occupied with some ‘psychedellic yodelling’ (as the awful Viz Profanisaurus puts it) in the gents’ loo for a while.
The interior looks a bit dusty, dark and dated. No faulting the service or the menu, but if you end up barfing a few hours after you eat somewhere, what are the odds of you ever going back?

Despite the fact that my palette isn’t designed to handle any kind of spice, I actually love Indian food. I’m the kind of heathen that orders a korma though, so I’m by no means an expert!
I’ve eaten in the Khayber twice — both times were takeaways, so I can’t comment on the waiter service in the restaurant. Although I would agree that the lighting is a bit of an issue. It’s so dark in there that I wouldn’t fancy sitting in it for ages… might get a bit depressing…
As for the food, I loved it. It was all really well cooked and properly tasty, so with that in mind, I wouldn’t have any reservations about ordering from it again in the future.

The Khyber is one of my earliest memories of eating Indian food. It’s been around for a very long time and for the longest time, I’d never heard of another sit in Indian restaurant and we went there a lot (times have changed!). Their menu is full of the usual Indian dishes that us Westerners would have heard of. I always got their madras, one down from their devastating Vindaloo and it was always amazing, especially the vegetarian version. It can get a little costly once you take into account the prices for all the sides, but that appears to be the trend with all Indian restaurants. One problem I have with this place is their fascination with the 50watt light bulb. If it was a little brighter it would be five stars.

Not a fan. I’ve heard some superb reviews about how out of this world The Khyber is. I was sorely disappointed. Not once, but twice did they get our order wrong. It wasn’t like it was that difficult, there was only two of us, we both ordered the same thing, and they didn’t get either right… How does that even work? I thought, OK, maybe they’re having a bad day. So after a while I decided that everyone deserves a second chance, the next time we decided to order take away, they got that wrong too. The food was … ok… by no mean standards. The naan bread was dry (big disappointment) and the korma wasn’t quite how I would expect. I’m a huge Indian fan so I was gutted when all this happened. i would love more excellent Indian restaurants around the area.
I wanted to give the place a chance but now I’ll stick to The Kinara thanks very much.

The Khyber Restaurant is where I first fell in love with Indian food, and the first place I had ever been to that made a Vindaloo so hot, it made me see stars. They know what they are doing when it comes to Indian cuisine, and are aware of how to cater for a western palate as well. The menu has all the favourites with a few lesser known dishes for the more adventurous among us.
Although The Khyber does a take away service, its sit-​in restaurant is where it really shines through. The waiters are knowledgeable about their dishes and can recommend something to suit anyone. It is maybe a little too dark for some people in the restaurant, but this I feel adds to the flavour of the place. Try the garlic nan, which is out of this world. I am honestly getting hungry just writing about this place!

The hubby and I were sitting in on Saturday, thinking about what to have for dinner, but it was such a lovely evening that we decided to head out for a meal locally — and due to my Unilocaling enthusiasm these days, of course we had to try somewhere new. We always usually head to the Indian Ocean when we fancy that cuisine, but we decided to go here instead as we’d never been before. It looks like absolutely nothing special from the outside, and the décor inside is a little dated in my personal opinion, quite dark and heavy — but very Indian and traditional at the same time. The staff weren’t up to scratch in my opinion — what I mean by that is they did all they were supposed to but they never looked you in the eye and no smiles or even a welcome, it was all very dull, like they didn’t want to be there… if they don’t look happy to be there, why should the customers? Also when I asked for a glass of Pinot Grigio, the waiter then instantly deferred to my husband, as though I hadn’t spoken, and told him there was no Pinot Grigo and what the other options were — as if he expected hubby to choose for me! I was not impressed with that. What I was impressed with however, was the food — it was absolultely gorgeous and hot and the chicken (Bhuna) that I had was tender and there was a good amount of meat in the sauce. Their peshwari naan was lovely too and the portios were all good. The bill came to around £45 which was good considering we both had starters and two drinks each. The food will bring me back for a takeaway, but the service was not pleasant.