CURRY is the perfect antidote to a chilly winter evening and with the weather we’ve been experiencing recently I was more than happy to step into Pasha in St John’s, Worcester.

The restaurant is advertised as serving ‘Indian cuisine’ and there is no mistake you’re in a curry house when you walk through the door, with an assault of colours, decoration and near-psychedelic art. Nothing wrong with the atmosphere then, although there were surprisingly few people in for a Saturday night.

The cheerful décor was mirrored by the staff, who were happy to see us, greeted us warmly, took our coats and showed us to our table with a smile and a minimum of fuss. They were also glad to advise about certain dishes and were knowledgeable about what was on the menu.

Drinks orders were taken immediately and we pored over the menu which provided all the usual favourites of any curry house worth its poppadoms.

There was a good selection of wines, beers and soft drinks and we opted for a bottle of chablis (£12.95) Talking of poppadoms, Pasha deserves a special mention because they didn’t come with the pools of grease you sometimes find congealing on their surface.

My fiancée started with a round of vegetable samosas (£2.55) which she described as deliciously crunchy while the filling was not overcooked or soggy.

I pushed the boat out with a stuffed pepper (£3.25) which had plenty of sharp flavours, and had been cooked just right, without any signs of burning on the pepper’s skin. We were both off to a good start.

The chicken tikka bhuna (£7.25) caught my fiancée’s eye, which she described it as smooth in a lovely thick sauce but tangy with a rich aftertaste from the tomatoes.

I ordered the chicken shashlick mussallah (£9.95), a slightly drier curry dish than my fiancée’s which had a nicely spiced marinade on the ample hunks of meat, all well cooked and awash with flavours.

The accompanying onions hadn’t been overcooked.

We shared a pilau rice (£2.25) between us as we usually find one each is too much, but at Pasha I would recommend one order for each diner because the portions were smaller than at other Indian restaurants where we have dined.

We also shared a garlic naan (£2.55) to mop up our sauces and, again, it was well-baked.

There was a fine selection of mains and starters but few desserts – most were chilled, and we shared a bowl of ice cream (£2.75).

Pasha,
56 St John’s,
Worcester
Telephone: 01905 426327
Food ★★★★✩
Value for money ★★★★✩
Ambience ★★★★✩
Service ★★★★★