37 Mount Ephraim, Royal Tunbridge Wells
Kent TN4 8AA 01892 511119
Because The Spice Club is the long-running title holder of The Worst Meal I Have Ever Eaten In Tunbridge Wells, I've deliberately given it a wide berth since I started reviewing restaurants - it just doesn't seem right to go to a restaurant with the express purpose of giving it a rubbish review. However, enough time has lapsed, and enough people have said they love it here for me to give it another go. I gave them a sporting chance by avoiding the lamb shank, just in case it was as inedible as it was the first time round.
At least they've got the poppadums right - the usual ones you expect in any Indian and not those awful thick, starchy discs which for some reason they decided to serve up at the aforementioned Worst Meal. So far, so good. For starters we gnawed our way through some hard, rubbery cod and crab fishcakes and potato cakes, which tasted like they'd just been hacked out from the back of the freezer, where they'd been residing for the last decade.
As far as mains were concerned, my lamb dhaba murgh was certainly a lot better than the aforementioned lamb shank, and I might even have found it quite pleasant if I had been overtaken by an insane, overwhelming cardamon fetish, which I certainly hadn't. The wife's sea bass was possibly the most beautifully cooked fish we've encountered in an Indian restaurant, but could have been any fish by the time the sauce had bullied it into submission. But she liked her chickpeas and asparagus, I liked my rice and naan, and I do commend them for an interesting menu and for attempting a fresh, different approach to Indian cuisine. It's certainly not the worst Indian in town, but it wouldn't be my first choice either. Or second or third come to think of it.
And I spent the entire meal gazing wistfully at Firebelly's and wondering why on earth I wasn't in there!
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