Denleys, 61-64 High Street, Topsham, Exeter, Devon, EX3 0DY

 

Denleys is a curry house that is also a wine bar so it sells a decent range of drinks as well as excellent food.

 

I visited Denleys last week with 3 friends.  The curry is not like the cook at home kind of curry you will find in the best restaurants in Leeds, Bradford and parts of Birmingham.  In stead I would describe it as banquet style with lots of rich thick sauces but all fresh spices.  For starters I had a dish called Roshini Mushroom  which was mushrooms with loads of garlic in a fairly mild thick sauce.  I also tried a starter that one of my friends had which was Haryali Piazee Mussels which was mussels in a rich curry sauce.  The other 2 people had Chicken Chat and Mulligatawny soup and both said the starters were good.

 

For main I had a dish called Tava which was described as being made with whole kashmiri spices.  It was about madras strength and again it was a thick rich sauce with a bit of cream in it I think.  The lamb was gorgeous.  2 often in curries the lamb is chewy or rubbery.  It is often old and very poor quality. This stuff was as good as the best Sunday roast lamb!  It was tender and really tasty.  I had mushroom rice with this which   had plenty of mushrooms and chunks of onion in it. Lovely!  I also tried my friend’s duck balti which was of a similar strength but the source was slightly less thick.

 

My only real criticism of this restaurant is that in a couple of instances they got the food descriptions wrong.  One of my friends asked for a chicken  Passanda which was described as being cooked in a cream and wine sauce.  In fact it had loads of coconut in it which was a surprise as coconut was not mentioned on the menu when describing this dish.

 

I rounded things off with a chilli nan which was fresh and there were plenty of chillies in it.  2 of us also had liqueur coffees to finish with and these were well prepared.  2 of us had pints of Otter bitter, one had a pint of cider and the other had a large glass of white wine.  The total came to about £102 which is not mega cheap but the quality of food was excellent and the staff were friendly. 

 

For menus visit

http://www.denleysessenceofindia.co.uk

 

I give this restaurant 8 out of 10.  Ingredients were top quality. The staff were helpful and the website is informative and up to date.  My only criticism as pointed out here is that a couple of dishes are not described properly and on the main menu dishes appear in an odd order with desserts being listed before the traditional curries.