Arishana

51 Canada Way

Lower Wick

Worcester

01905 339338

PASHA has long been a staple of top quality Indian cuisine on the west side of the city. The Pasha group has now extended its empire with the opening of Arishana in Lower Wick. It may seem an unlikely venue, a sit-down restaurant on a housing estate, but Arishana is quite snugly sited at the end of a row of shops and, being a bringyour- own-booze affair, handily placed by an off-licence.

If you fancy a pre-curry pint, the Maple Leaf pub is opposite.

We were glad to enter its warm environs on a blustery, cold night. On first impression, the restaurant looked understated, stylish with a laid-back, relaxed ambience.

We were given a warm welcome – the staff keen to impress.

There were a fair few diners tucking in to some tasty fare, while quite a few people dropped in for a takeaway during our meal.

There was a good range of traditional and contemporary dishes on the menu with plenty of house specialities – being a fish fiend, I was delighted to note a good variety of seafood.

My dining companion, a vegetarian, was equally pleased with the choice. For starters she plumped for combi chaat (£3.50) – mushrooms, with garlic and coriander in massala sauce encased in a spiced poppadum.

The dish was beautifully presented, as were all the courses. She enjoyed it, saying the mushrooms blended with the coriander well.

I opted for the badshah zinga on puree (£4.50) – king prawn cooked with ginger, garlic, chillies, tomato and tamarind sauce. The soft pastry dish was also ensconced in a birds-nest style poppadum. It was a delight with the flavours melding perfectly.

For her main course my companion chose vegetable shaslick (£5.95) – skewered tandoori roasted vegetables with paneer. It certainly looked good and she loved it, declaring it very tasty, the cheese particularly creamy, although she felt it could have done with a little sauce.

I was tempted by the monkfish, but unfortunately there was none available, so I plumped for the grilled sea bass (£9.95), which came with very satisfying spicy mashed potato and a tangy mango sauce. The marinated fish was quite crunchy and the mash was a real wintry treat. Arishana doesn’t offer dessert, which was good news for our waistlines, not to mention our wallets, which had hardly been hit by a recession busting bill of about £25.

The restaurant is a welcome addition to the west side of the city and no doubt the folk in Lower Wick will be sampling its delights for some time to come.

HOW IT RATED
Food 3

Ambience 3

Value for Money 4

Service 3