A dear old friend whom I have known for fifty years or thereabouts and in whose company I have lunched or dined on more occasions than we both would care to remember, was leaving Birmingham for good to live a good distance away and possibly we might never dine together again. Where to eat, therefore, for our Last Lunch?
Well, it seemed like a bookend to dine at Raj Doot, now in George Street, though we would have first dined at the restaurant decades ago when it was in Albert Street. Nostalgia seemed the right theme for this farewell and Raj Doot really was just the place. It remains gorgeously decorated and serves delightful old fashioned curries, thick spicy sauces, reasonably accurately cooked meat and all the accompaniments. Service polite and the furniture is comfortable. Yes, this was definitely the right place for the occasion.
It felt rather sad that we were the only diners in the restaurant at that particular lunchtime. I remember the days when it was buzzing with atmosphere and aflame with diners who looked like they knew how to dress and behave when dining out. This was midweek so perhaps that old vaguely thrilling atmosphere still returns for Friday and Saturday evening dinners. It’s such a lovely place that I hope it does.
For starters I had to have onion bhajis to take me back to my younger days. I was served three smallish, lightly battered bhajis which I thoroughly enjoyed though perhaps the caramelised onions might have been a little sweeter to achieve absolute full marks. My companion chose Jumbo prawn kebab and announced that it had given him great pleasure.
For the main, I chose Murgh Malli Methi splendidly spiced with fenugreek with nicely cooked, moist chicken and a good, tasty, thick and comforting sauce. My companion chose Chicken Jalfrazi which he again said was very much to his taste and I had to agree when I sampled some. With the mains we shared some perfectly cooked rice and a delicious, light but plump and correctly sweet Peshwari naan. This was all really very good.
My companion was too full for dessert but I chose pistachio kulfi which came in alluring thick strips which were soothing and tasty, the pistachio flavour coming through nicely.
The style and the food made this a very happy and contented farewell and for me, a spur to returning quite soon to eat at Raj Doot.
Rating:- 🌞
18 September 2025.
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