Cliffe Spice - Medway

A few mates decided to go to Cliffe Spice for breakfast whilst our boys were doing their footy training. I ordered poached egg on toast and a mocha £6.45 , my mates ordered scrambled egg on toast , bacon egg sausage roll. After 30 mins still not having our food, the guy came out and said he doesn't know how to do a poached egg, is there another egg you want.

Booked for 7 pm but felt the restaurant was not really ready. 3 men sitting around chatting and didn’t seem ready to serve. However they were friendly and brought poppadoms and dip stuff. My prawn puri starter was luke warm, the pancake flabby, the prawn filling mushy. Did not enjoy it. The main, mixed tandoori grill, came without salad or mint yogurt sauce. Meat dry but plenty of it. Naans fresh and delicious. I have to say I was rather disappointed in this meal.

Our usual takeaway closes on Tuesday, so we decided to order from Cliffe Spice. The phone was answered promptly, our order taken , option to pay by cash or by card (we chose cash), and we were told the meal would be delivered in 45 minutes. Not bad, considering we are a ten minute drive away (about 5.5 miles). So we were pleasantly surprised when the meal arrived less than 35 minutes later by a very pleasant, well mannered driver. The food itself was excellent: piping hot and absolutely delicious. Sometimes Indian restaurants over-cook meat, but the chicken, lamb and prawns were all juicy and soft, and although highly spiced, all the dishes were completely balanced and we could still taste the individual elements. It was one of the best Indian meals we have had, certainly on a par with top London restaurants like Bombay Brasserie, but nowhere near as pricey. In fact, we thought the overall cost to be very reasonable compared to other local restaurants, and considering the amount of meat in it, it was exceptional value. Even the Peshwari Naan was stuffed full of coconut, unlike some I have had where you are hard pressed to be able to taste it. The one element that we were not completely happy with was the onion bhajees, which seemed slightly under-cooked to us. They left a floury texture on the tongue, as if the gram flour had not cooked all the way through. However, that was not sufficient to spoil the meal, nor to downgrade our rating. In fact we will probably go to the restaurant itself next time rather than order a takeaway, to get the full experience.

Best curry I’ve ever had! The chicken tikka Marsala was just perfect and the chutney sauces was amazing, the atmosphere was strange and very empty in there. The food is reasonably priced, and the young brunette waitress was great and very helpful.

5* Service always helpful and polite, the food is amazing. I look forward to my Indian every time I order : Thank you for looking after us!