Recently I was invited to dine at the newly refurbished and rebranded Anju”s at the Ramada Park Hall in Wolverhampton. I invited along my friend C, who lives over in Shropshire so it was a perfect halfway meeting point for us for one of our regular get togethers!
We’d chosen a Monday night to eat there, and I was worried it would be pretty empty, but actually was pleasantly surprised it was half full, with a mix of couples families and solitary business folk.
The Indian Restaurant recently reopened with a bang, seeing 130 VIPs at a spectacular launch night, which unfortunately we were unable to attend due to prior commitments, meaning even more so I was looking forward too seeing what they had on offer.
Chefs with a rich heritage in a diverse range of cooking have been sourced from around the globe to create a menu of a high standard, using carefully sourced local ingredients. The hotel, which is looking for 5* status, has already had a huge cash injection to upgrade bedrooms, health club and banqueting facilities, and Anju’s goes further to achieving this goal.
The restaurant decor is opulent and luxurious with a water feature and larger than life hand painted portraits of Bollywood stars adorning the walls. I couldn’t really fault the serve we received, staff were polite, accommodating and knowledgable.
We stuck to soft drinks for the evening so can’t comment on the alcoholic drinks, but there looked to be a good selection to choose from.
Moving on to the food, C chose the Onion and Spinach Bhaji with Mint & Tamarind Chutney to start. She feels you can always tell a good Indian meal on the strength of the Bhaji, and I would tend to agree. She really enjoyed it, so a sign of good things to come. I went for the Papri Chat, which is described as crispy flour pastries with mint and tamarind chutney and seasoned yoghurt. Doesn’t initially sound the most interesting of dishes, but something drew me to it and it was absolutely delicious. The combination of flavours was superb. There was a great selection of both starters and mains, plenty of choices for veggies, meat eaters and fish lovers alike.
For mains we both decided to try one of the Anju’s signature dishes, scattered throughout the menu. For me it was the Handi Chicken – Pot cooked chicken on the bone in the chefs special onion and tomato gravy. It was a spicy dish, but the waiters took care on ordering to check how spicy we liked things, and said with most dishes, the chef could alter for our tastes. Luckily I like spice, so had it as it comes. The chicken was so tender due to being on the bone and the sauce was rich with layers and layers of flavour. C went for the Maritali Gosht - a secret recipe lamb dish with hints of mint and coriander. We shared a portion of excellent Pulou rice and Garlic and Coriander naan which was light and full of flavour.
Unfortunately there was no room for puddings! We thoroughly enjoyed Anju’s and I’d have no hesitation in recommending people to eat there, and if you’re staying in the Park Hall Hotel then you’re in for a treat for dinner!
Disclosure: We dined as guests of Anju’s. As always, opinions are all our own and a positive review was not a requirement! The photos with no blog logo are all courtesy of the PR company :)
