During these Covid times its such a luxury to go and eat out. One of our close friends turned 40 this year and as locked down had eased slightly with mixing of households, we decided to treat her for a birthday meal at Farzi Café.

On arrival to Farzi café it’s a beautiful dim lighted setting with a visible bar, hand sanitation at the door where we waited to be seated. We were placed just near the bar but where we could also see the kitchen.

The Staff were all lovely and made us aware of Covid rules and gave us two menus to share amongst us (menus were all protected so easy to clean with antibacterial).

We opted for the Al a Carte menu and what I loved about it was the simplicity and how they had categorised it in 6 sections. We picked dishes from 5 of the categories to include both vegetarians and non-vegetarian dishes to share.

From the small plates & salads sections we chose the following:

The Hass Avocado Chaat (£8) and the Dal Chawal Arancini with an achaar-papad-chutney (£10), both vegetarian;

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The Flame Grilled Lamb Chops with a maple & fennel glaze (£16) and the Seared Scallops with a tomato pickle and sago crisp (£18);

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From the Pao & sliders section we selected both which included the vegetarian Seitan Chilli Bun with a garlic yogurt (£12) and the Butter Chicken Bao accompanied with a green chilli mayo (£14).

The mains included a Tandoori Bharwan Aloo benarasi curry (£14) and the Jhol Masala Chiken Biryani (£21) with a side of Double Butter Dal Makhani (£8) and a basket of tradional Indian breads (£9).

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We ended the night with these desserts to share; the Chocolate Chai Bubble a chocolate truffle with a fruit compote layered with crispy chai bubble (£9) and the Coconut Rice Kheer with a lychee and passion-fruit gel accompained by a mango sorbet (£8).

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And they also surprised our friend with a birthday treat, which was a lovely gesture.  Overall the food was delicious, with very different concepts like the Dal Chawal Arancini which was yummy but my favourites of the night was the Butter Chicken Bao and the Double Butter Dal Makhani, the creaminess of the dal just made you want to keep eating more.

Farzi Café is not a cheap night out especially with drinks, but for a twist to Indian cuisine and for a special occasion I would recommend it, the ambience was great too.