Flute

I went out with family to this little restaurant and had a wonderful time. There were only two other tables occupied, so it was peaceful and the service very attentive. We quickly received poppadoms and chutneys which were fantastic, the raita and mango chutney very tasty and the onions and onions in red chilli sauce equally so, with just enough for us, though I did end up scraping the pots!
Drinkswise, the waiter was good at telling us exactly which beers they had on tap and bottled, asking what I liked and giving us his recommendations. This happened again with our mains, my mother was having trouble choosing between a couple of dishes, so he asked what she usually had and liked and quickly narrowed her choices down.
We enjoyed our starters and mains, like the other reviewer I was a little disappointed with the heat of my curry — I chose a combination (CT Pathia and Lamb Jalfrezi) which were both labelled as fairly hot, but to me they were mild/​medium, though still tasty. I found the rice and nan to be good quality on this occasion.
The waiters were very attentive and overall we had a good time and would probably go again, especially as the bill was very reasonable for the large portion sizes, though next time I’ll make sure I ask for more chillis in my curry!

Saturday night and I dined here alone, how sad is that. At least I had the opportunity to consider in the food & décor perhaps more than normal.
My first impressions were actually good but after that I unfortunately can’t find much to recommend the Flute. The sheek kebab looked fine with pleasant presentation but it was virtually tasteless. In fact it was probably the blandest thing I have eaten in a long time. It may have been a one off except my main course had a similar trait. I like my food very tasty and slightly hot; a quick chat with the waiter and the choice was CT Sag Madras. Again it was «thin» and lacked both heat & taste. The accompanying rice, chips & nan were very average as was the the Indian lager. I wish I had been told about the bottled Bathams bitter they had in the fridge.
As for the décor, it’s not my choice of colours and the painting is very rough around the edges. Service was quick, a little too quick but as my chair was hard I wouldn’t have wanted to have been seated much longer.
The restaurant was quite busy, predominantly full of ladies all of which seemed to be having masalas & kormas — say no more.
2.5 Stars but well done for supporting local brewers.