The Ivy of Sonning

The Ivy of Sonning is a lovely place to eat... parking is however a total nightmare in Sonning so some planning ahead... but the Ivy is worth the effort.

First the food... great selection, nice list of specialities and for sensible prices - overall the bill came to the clubs average for the last year £36 each so perfectly acceptable. The Ivy Special starter was a good way to kick of the meal and priced to please. The Panner Pakora were attractive sounding but pretty rubbery to the taste - avoid those! Everything else was pretty good all-round. The mains are also sensibly priced and we went for a house speciality the lamb Handi Gosht which proved a good choice and popular. The madrass at the Ivy so be wary of those spicy dishes. The secondary stuff is well prepared and seemed freshly cooked so top marks there. The tarka dall and the mushroom dishes excellent tasty additions. Overall the food was voted top marks by us - highly recommended.

The setting - the Ivy has worked hard at this and the decor and general ambiance of the place is top grade and very comfortable but the lack of space shows as although pretty well spaced out the tables in some parts of the restaurant are close together so no secret business meetings here I fear. But the head waiter/owner (who claims the name Bobby) is very amenable and looked after us well with free after dinner drinks, a friendly line in banter with us and overall (despite ignoring one member of our party!) he was efficient.

The service - very good, noticeably quick and neatly and decoratively - a nice touch which many over look for more money ... well done The Ivy. The food was hot, arrived with sensible gaps and carefully delivered... however Bobby did forget a couple of dishes, and was keen to get with everyone but could perhaps have spent a little more time on getting the order spot on... if cost him in the scoring ....

Summing up - great little curry house (emphasis on little) with friendly staff, good service and very tasty food all in a very attractive setting...grab a beer in the Bull nearby (75 metres away down the High Street - limited parking again!) and you have the makings of a fine evening. The Ivy jumps straight in to our top 10 restaurants ... no mean feat for a seven year old club.

What did learn on the night (Nick's request...) that restairants should have toilet police?! That Curry-Oke could be big time entertainment and Nick wears hoodies at weekends! In fairness it was Ralph Lauren... oh and after all this time eating curry Tom finally admitted he can't really taste the differences between the dishes!! You can't make this stuff up.

Hello Sailor

Previous careers of FFC members… here's Ed before his life in computing....!

FFC Members of Old...

Does anyone recognise this FFC Founder Member... ?

Memories of India

September is typical FFC time getting into the swing leading up to Christmas... and this month we went off our normal track over to Farnham for a change. Big turnout this month...

The Memories of India in Farnham is a situated on the main 'High Street' in Farnham and is popular with those in the 'know'!

It was reported to be an award winning curry house in Berkshire but checking after the dinner it seems that award was given to the group behind this rather than this restaurant itself. But that didn't detract from an excellent meal.

The head waiter was very keen for us to try a mixed tandoori starter and tried a couple of times to persuade us...and to be honest it was good so we all agreed it worth plumping for...a chop, a prawn and chicken plus a vegetable something... which was all jolly good to be honest. The house speciality is a Lamb Handi which was a balti pot with a nan bread draped over the top...it looks exotic and was order by 4 of us so proved popular too.

Ambiance is smart but not posh and the service was polite and attentive..the choice on the menu was a little limited though but still enough choice. The local were in but the place wasn't crowded by any means. With two pubs almost across the road (The Forrester and Stag & Hounds) it was a good venue for a meet up.

The Club voted the food at the top of the scale for us with the restaurant getting a 8/10 overall and price definitely was a factor tip included this was a £34 pp meal...and pretty good all round. Would we go back...Yep we would.

Hidden factoid discovered on the night one FFC member used to play football for the Sunday League Football team at The Forresters Pub... back in the day of course.

History made for FFC : The Spice Merchants in Henley

Well this months FFC gathering marked two landmarks in FFC history...

Firstly this proved to be the most expensive FFC curry gathering per head coming in at over £202 for four... Secondly this is the first time the FFC has gathered in August - normally we are all away on holiday...but July is now the new August?? So first the curry... The Spice Merchants are always lovely restaurants, but you pay for it... the food very tasty and of course mainly dry curry dishes are the speciality, and a few interesting twists such as tandoori lamb and the special kebabs served at the table...but beer is never served in pints but charged as if it was!

Four of us this month managed to have 4 beers & 2 glasses of wine and a shared starter (twice over or course) and then a simple dish each and still managed to break the £200 mark... impressively overpriced for what we actually had.

The special chicken chops are merely chicken legs cut to look like lamb chops...the curries are average by our standards and scores for the restaurant amongst FFC members was a resounding 7...nice ambiance, decent but uninspiring curry dishes and massively over the top pricing...

But the company made up for the price, and all agreed to learning something...like Booker aerodrome was the scene of the largest outdoor rave back in 1985 with 20,000 people turning up...thanks Nick! or how to make money on internet trading by buying low prices out of stock gear and selling for a massive profit, and just how much you can now buy on Amazon that is not a book...amazing how prices drop for even household goods ... very entertaining evening for this historic meeting of the FFC.

Next month we are visiting an award winning establishment in Farnham Common which was listed in the top 5 in the country last year... watch this space. See you all then...

Sad news... well sort of...

You might remember that we had a very entertaining evening within the Green Man in Flackwell Heath prior to visiting the Radhuni Curry House down the road...back in the dim and distant past of the FFC.

I remember the singing, the tattoos, the fight and that was just the local women!

Well the sad news is the Green Man is no more and will shortly be replaced by a Sainsbury's.... I am sure all members will be grieving about this sad loss to part of our history.

http://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/9151184.Sainsbury_s_store_gets_green_light_in_Flackwell_Heath/?ref=rss&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook

The English Curry Awards 2011

For anyone interested I would definitely recommend a quick read as nominations might be in your area... I have to say I am very surprised how poorly the Southern Regions of England are poorly represented with nominations... have a quick read...

http://www.lovecurry.info/english-curryawards-2011/shortlist.html