Judith Halliday finds there’s nothing to get heated about – except the spiciness of the food
THE older and grumpier I become the more little things irritate me – and one of those irritations is how hard it can be to get the bill in some restaurants.
We’ve all experienced it – waiters who are overly keen to take your order, keep returning while you’re eating to check everything is all right, and then seem to avoid eye contact when all you want to do is pay the bill and get off home.
At Voujon in Wellingborough, however, that simply isn’t allowed to happen.
Judith Halliday finds there’s nothing to get heated about – except the spiciness of the food
THE older and grumpier I become the more little things irritate me – and one of those irritations is how hard it can be to get the bill in some restaurants.
We’ve all experienced it – waiters who are overly keen to take your order, keep returning while you’re eating to check everything is all right, and then seem to avoid eye contact when all you want to do is pay the bill and get off home.
At Voujon in Wellingborough, however, that simply isn’t allowed to happen. Firstly, the waiters were very attentive and friendly anyway, and secondly, each table has a handy device that ensures that, no matter how busy the restaurant gets, you don’t get forgotten about.
On each table number holder there are buttons marked Order, Service, Drink or Bill – and pressing any of them alerts the team to your needs and someone is with you quickly to provide what you need.
So impressed was he by this new gadget, my husband decided to use the call buttons regardless, despite waiters hovering nearby throughout the evening. We agreed that they would be a godsend on a busy Saturday evening, but on this occasion I don’t think there was any need to alert anyone to my needs, given the steam coming out of my ears at certain points, but more of that later.
Voujon, the Indian and Bangladeshi restaurant in Cambridge Street, is part of a small chain that includes restaurants in Corby and Long Buckby, as well as one in Essex. The name Voujon comes from the ancient Bangla language and means ‘an invitation to dine’ and taking up that invitation is a decision you’ll be glad you made.
As mentioned, the staff are friendly and welcoming, and the décor is modern and relaxing. The colour scheme is muted creams and browns, with striped dining chairs for those who lose the fight for the brown and cream leather seating that runs along the wall. For groups of six or eight people, there are two round cream leather seating areas that are in the heart of the restaurant but provide a private dining feel.
Two glass water features are focal points – one in the centre of the restaurant that changes colour as the bubbles gently move and disperse, and one at the entrance that is a little more forceful and creates a feeling of energy and refreshment.
Indian food is one of my favourites and I’ve tried most of the traditional favourites, either cooked at home, as takeaways or when eating out, and so a menu that includes specials and signature dishes that I’m not familiar with is always a good start to the evening.
A couple of Kingfisher beers seemed the perfect accompaniment and they arrived with papadoms and a chutney selection that included the lime pickle declared by Jeremy to be the nicest he’d ever tasted.
We toyed with the idea of the grilled sea bass, which is £9.50 for two people as a starter but can be ordered as a main course for one. It sounded delicious, infused with garlic, turmeric and lemon juice and cooked over a charcoal tandoori, but in the end we plumped for a couple of different dishes.
I had the prawn bhuna on puree, gently spiced prawns with garlic, ginger and onions on a fried puffed bread and Jeremy went for the Chot Poti, which is a combination of chick peas and egg, gently spiced and formed into a cake, topped with almonds. It was something neither of us had seen on a menu before and was very enjoyable.
For his main course, Jeremy went for Chicken Nawabi, chicken marinated in herbs and spice with mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and coated with brandy. It arrived on a sizzling platter and the brandy was added and flamed at the table.
The results was a dish that was spicy without being hot, with a sweet after taste from the brandy. He added a side dish of Chilli Paneer, cheese fried with chilli and coriander and a Voujon special rice with mixed seasonal vegetables.
My choice, as suggested earlier, was one of the hotter dishes on the menu. To be fair, Garlic Chilli Chicken doesn’t leave much to the imagination and I had been warned by my caring husband that my work colleague might not thank me the following day if I went too heavy on the garlic, but it just sounded my kind of dish.
And it was, once I realised that the thin green strips were not slices of green pepper after all but actually small, whole green chillies and probably best avoided if I wanted to taste anything else. Avoiding the whole chillies allowed me to properly enjoy the succulent chicken and the tasty sauce.
I wanted something different and got it. And I would certainly choose it again, particularly now that I know how to eat it effectively.
Pressing the buzzer for the bill, again, for novelty value rather than being a necessity to attract anyone’s attention, we left determined to return, happy to have added another good restaurant to our list of local favourites.