June's get together was of course one of our occasional second week of the month gatherings...because the Queen's Jubilee Celebrations the week before (and of course several members had to attend festivities!) meant getting together at the start of the month was impossible.
We met up at the Royal Stag in Datchet... a buzzy pub we have been to before which serves a rather with a weird pint of Windsor Knot ...way too hoppy for our tastes! But crowded and good to see the place thriving...
The Zaman was recommended (actually by the same friend of Ed's who recommended the place in Denham from a month or so ago and so hope were high) and we were not disappointed..excellent food, and very reasonable prices made the trip outside our normal hunting grounds around Maidenhead... mind you always gets off to a good start with some free Pakora to get us in the mood while choosing.
First the ambiance...nice sized convenient car park for a change; beginning to realise that everyone wants a decent place to park more curry houses could take note here. Top marks. The interior is spaced out and gives a feel of a big room; which is good if the place is buzzing but it was quite quiet so for us it felt a little empty. The food - typical fair but a few nice twists : stick to Chef's Specialities and you get a better mix, but the ordinary Madras was very good. The starters we good sized portions and the Kind Prawn Puri was a popular choice. But there was an interesting twist with a very hot tikka available too...which was out of the ordinary...but in fairness really only as hot as the Madras. We did praise this place for the sundries - great Naan bread and Tarka Dal were excellent.
The bill - frankly very surprising as Zaman turned out to be very reasonable indeed with the bill including being only £31 a head for a good big meal and friendly service. Would we go back : Yes... Is the drive over to Datchet worth it: definitely.
Next month The Binoy in Dedworth Road?
