The Raj

I’m a big fan of fried chicken and so I have to say a little quiet prayer for Roosters, the fried chicken takeaway that used to occupy this site
As my sister is away diving this week and I was feeling too lazy to cook, I combined those facts with my Unilocal duty to write about new local businesses to find the moral excuse to get a takeaway from The Raj tonight
They only opened yesterday and the chefs did look a little shocked when I walked through the door. However, the chap manning the counter was very welcoming and we had a good chat about the new business
I appreciate the effort they’ve made with the waiting area. Most takeaways are a little dodgy in that department but here, they’ve put in comfortable sofas and a TV showing Bollywood hits, which were fun to watch despite the language barrier. There was a dish of complimentary Indian snacks on the table but I declined to have any, not being sure how long it had been left out
As I was dining on my own, my decision to get a takeaway from here was largely due to the fact that they offered several thalis — these are multi-​course meals offering the chance to sample different dishes. In the interests of Unilocal research, I settled on the deluxe thali, which still came in at a very reasonable £13.90 and I got 10% off for collecting it. They will deliver orders over £12 for free within a 3.5 mile radius
There was a generous amount of food. The best part were the starters — crisp onion bhajis served with minty dip, a meat samosa which had some lovely spicing in the meat, tandoori king prawn and Mughal lamb chop. The king prawn was juicy but the lamb was a little dry — easy to do as the lamb wasn’t very thick. Curry-​wise, the chicken tikka masala was a tad on the sweet side but a good contrast to the more earthy chicken bhuna. The little feast was finished off with a garlic naan and pilau rice. The amount of food certainly pleased my Chinese Thrift Gene!
After a nice dinner, I forgave them for taking over Roosters. Worth a re-​visit