RESTAURANT REVIEW: Spice Lodge, Cheltenham
The Spice Lodge is located in the Montpellier area of Cheltenham in a fine Regency building near the base of Cheltenham’s tallest building, Eagle Tower. It prides itself on its award winning Pan Asian Cuisine and we were keen to establish whether it could live up to the standards expected. The Spice Lodge had recently added the South West winner of the 2012 British Curry Award to their list of well-respected food awards.
The building itself is one of the main features of the Spice Lodge with its period features, high ceilings and tasteful decoration. The layout of the building lends itself to several dining arrangements. There are five rooms in total that are perfect for all numbers of functions and celebrations, from intimate dining to weddings and corporate events.
We were shown into the downstairs bar that was perfect for a pre-dining drink and perusal of their very interesting menu. We chose a bottle of house wine, a Pino Grigio Rose at £13.95. Spice Lodge offers Indian and Thai food with a bit of a twist. You will find some of your favourites but also some exciting new dishes which we were both eager to try.
Decision made, to start we opted for Paneer Tikka (Indian cottage cheese stuffed with pineapple paste and roasted with bell peppers served with baby leaf salad and mint chutney) and Barra Kebab Lahori (lamb marinated with garlic, ginger, yoghurt mustard oil and masala, roasted with bell pepper, with salad and mint chutney) both at £5.95. While waiting we picked our way through a mixed basket of poppadoms and Thai prawn crackers that were much tastier than those offered at the majority of Asian restaurants.
If the starter was anything to go by we were looking forward to our main courses that were chosen from the “Innovative” section of The Spice Lodge menu. I chose the spicy Goan Cod Curry which was lovely with large fillets of fish. After a chat about the menu and any recommendations my other half opted for the Old Delhi Chicken Curry, which was a very special Chicken Tikka, cooked with the most succulent chicken he had ever tasted in a curry (£14.95 each). Main dishes range in price £7.95 - £15.95. To accompany we had a portion of rice and naan bread.
We did manage to squeeze in one dessert between us, and on the recommendation of our waiter we were served a delightful cheesecake with a carrot filling. We followed this with coffee and mints, during which time we were able to sum up our wonderful evening. The Spice Lodge offers a unique dining experience in Cheltenham - fine dining Asian style. It's a great place to celebrate family occasions - large or small. Indeed a birthday dessert was presented to the lady on the next table with a short rendition of happy birthday.
Finally, we have to commend the staff. All were friendly, well presented and attentive. We will be looking forward to our next visit to the Spice Lodge.
Explore Gloucestershire
4 February 2013
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