Surrey Restaurants - Sundarban on the Lake
Above: Sundarban is a converted boat moored on the edge of a placid lake
Words by John Hughes Pictures by Helen HughesSundarban on the Lake
Lakeside Complex, Wharf Road, Frimley Green,
Surrey GU16 6JR. Tel: 01252 838868
www.sundarban.co.uk There are many places in Surrey to enjoy a good curry in delightful surroundings, with excellent service at a reasonable price – we all have our favourite. In my case, however, that favourite changed a few weeks ago when I discovered Sundarban on the Lake, an absolute gem located in the Lakeside complex in Frimley Green.
The venue alone is worth the visit – a converted boat moored on the edge of a placid lake, particularly attractive at twilight when the lights are on but you can still see across the water. The dining area is on the upper deck, which enhances the view. Then there’s the charming welcome, in my case: “Good evening, Mr Huge, your name does not suit you!” Wonderful.
The Sundarban offers Tandoori, Bengali and contemporary cuisine, but the menu avoids the common mistake of cramming too many options into a small space in tiny print – difficult to read and even harder to make a choice! Here, there are just 10 starters, 10 popular main dishes, 10 seafood dishes, 10 house specialities, 10 side dishes and a selection of rice, bread and sundries – a well balanced blend of the familiar, the unusual and the original.
After the obligatory poppadoms, I started with Tranancore Chicken, a dish from South India in which the chicken (or lamb) is dipped in light batter, deep fried and then smothered in the black pepper sauce and garnished with curry leaves – a pleasingly light appetiser. Helen chose the rather more substantial Vegetarian Kebab Selection, which included potato and spinach cakes, tandoori grilled broccoli, cauliflower and capsicums, and a lightly battered cottage cheese dish called Fanner Pakora.
For my main course, I tried something entirely new to me, Fish Frankie, an Indian street food speciality – spicy pan fried fish served with salad and rolled up in a roti. Tucked in with so many flavours the fish was barely recognisable as such and could easily have been chicken – an observation, not a criticism as it was delicious. Anxious to avoid anything too spicy, Helen took Sundarban up on the offer in the menu that their chef “will be too happy to prepare any dish not listed.” The resulting king prawn korma served with pilau rice was perfect – smooth, rich and mild.
Combined with a Peshwari Naan, Channa Masala, a Kuchumber Salad (you guessed – cucumbers mainly) and a couple of bottles of Cobra beer, this was a superb meal – not just “going out for a curry”, rather savouring quality Indian cuisine as an affordable and delightful dining experience. As for the service – charming and entirely faultless. I love the place and have been back already – this time to savour another curious but delightful house speciality – Railway Lamb Curry.
My name may not have suited me as I went on-board, but it certainly felt rather more appropriate coming ashore two hours later...
What we ate
Starters
Poppadoms £0.75 each
Vegetarian Kebab Selection £5.95
Tranancore Chicken £5.95
Main Courses Fish Frankie £9.95
King Prawn Korma £9.95
Side dishes Pilau Rice £1.95
Kuchumber Salad £1.95
Channa Masala £4.95
Peshwari Naan £1.75
Drinks Cobra beer (large) £3.50
THE VERDICT Food and wine 9/10
Venue 10/10
Service 10/10
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