Spice Valley Horwich

171 Lee Lane
Horwich
BL6 7JDTTT 01204 697222
W spice-valley.co.uk

We visited the Spice Valley on a snowy Wednesday night in February. Our first impressions were formed before we even left our car as a well known frozen food supermarket was delivering a van load of supplies into the back of the Spice Valley. Not an ideal sight but we were possibly too hungry to care at that point.

We always book in advance even on a Wednesday night, which has been embarrassing in the past but on this trip it was justified. There was a huge group of about 20 celebrating a 50^th birthday; they took up half the restaurant and the other half was fairly full. We lost out when it came to tables, as we were right next to the birthday group who clearly don’t get out much and got louder and more irritating as the night went on.

The menu is very comprehensive, the specials are separated by meat and there is a good selection of classic curries for those who want to play it safe. This menu also features a lot of seafood, even lobster (if you pre-order). The grilled fishes do look rather appealing if you fancy something different.

Popadoms were good, and well priced. The mango chutney has a little kick in it which is nice for a change, but if you like your chutney straight you will have to ask for a separate portion. We ordered the sea bass, Lucknow Ke shish kebab, tandori champan and the rashmi kebab to start. All were presented beautifully with a delicate salad and dressing which wouldn’t look out of place in a Michelin star restaurant. Sea bass was probably the highlight here, but we certainly wouldn’t have any issues recommending all of them.

After an impressive start we were very excited by the prospect of the mains. The waiter recommended three signature dishes to accompany the chicken tikka massla. Firstly we had the Nababi Tandoor (mixed grill), which was ok but if you are having starters then avoid this one as you are just getting more of the same. The Chicken Tikka Massala was average at best, and our third dish, the lamb Kadhai Gosht, lacked any real flavour. The highlight was the Raga Chicken, which was a good tasty medium curry.

Overall the night was a series of ups and downs. The service was prompt and friendly and the starters were very good but the mains and atmosphere was disappointing. Unfortunately the atmosphere was dominated the birthday group, so if you were there for a romantic meal for two then you would have been better off in KFC.

Mains are £8-9 each but the starters are more expensive than average. You are looking at £25-27 a head for popadoms, a starter, a main with pilau rice and naan with a pint of cobra. Not cheap and always justified.

Scoring:

Starter:
Signature Dish:
Chicken Tikka Masala:
Experience:
Value for money: