Reviewing "The Himachol" : Indian Takeaway Restaurant in Poole

I produced this Review for the Bournemouth Echo, for inclusion within their "Taste" online pages.

The Himachol, 381 Ashley Road, Parkstone, Poole, BH14 0AT.

Tuesday should have been Bacon & Leek Pasta.  However, I had a sudden attack of "meh!" and could hardly be bothered to pick up the telephone and ring for a curry.  So hubby did.  

I consulted the Twitterverse first and asked for recommendations in our area.  Quite categorically, the vote was 7:1 for the Himachol on the Ashley Road, Poole.  We couldn't ignore such a vote of confidence, and ordered our favourites on the reckoning that if a Restaurant can turn out your favourite dish well, then getting adventurous next time around would be a potentially rewarding experience.

They had a lot to live up to, as every takeaway we've had since being in Poole (and it's not many over the three years!) has always been measured against our nirvana of Takeaways, the Golden Curry in Chatham.

A muddle of plates and takeaway containers
Isn't that the only way?

I ordered a Lamb Tikka Masala, son had a chicken version and hubby had a Chicken Dansak.  We ordered a mushroom rice, a plain pilau rice, a saag bhajee (fried spinach & onion) and a Peshwari naan (flat bread, filled with almonds & fruit).   The lamb used in the Tikka Masala was tough and quite a workout for the jaws, but tasty in that it had been marinated - which is always a good sign.  The sauce wasn't quite up to the standard of the Golden Curry, in that it lacked a smidgen of the depth of flavour together with the creaminess, but it was by far and away the best we've had in this area and a very good effort.  The chicken version was slightly sweeter and the chicken was again marinated but soft to the bite.  I was pleased to find that the two Tikka Masala dishes had a definite difference in flavour.  It would have been so easy for the Chef to have just given the different marinated meat the same sauce.

Hubby's Chicken Dansak was quite excitingly spiced, with the type of heat that gave you cause to pause.  I think I'd have had problems eating it all, if I'd have had the Dansak.  The rices were absolutely fine, with the mushroom rice tasting delicately of cloves.  The naan was big and fluffy - just the job.  However, the true star (for me) of the entire show was the Saag Bhajee.  I'd have happily had two of those and forgotten about any ideas of having curry.  There was just something attractively salty involved with it, together with the fried onion and subtle spicing within the spinach itself.  My one complaint was that there just wasn't enough for all three of us in the one dish!

We were all agreed that at £30 for the three of us, even though we'd had to wait for an hour and a quarter before getting our food, we'd be going back to the Himachol the next time we're looking for a takeaway - or the next time I have an attack of "meh!".