The birthday of a close friend, combined with our own absence over the festive season, presented itself as the perfect opportunity to indulge in an evening out. So with children safely dispatched to granny and grandpa, the four of us arrived at The Sitar to enjoy a curry and a rare evening of “grown ups only” dinner and conversation.
By Le Connoisseur
We were greeted warmly, promptly presented with menus and our drinks orders taken. As we’ve all been really busy recently, there was a lot of catching up to do, and we spent rather too long on conversation before ordering.
Eventually, having chewed the fat, put the world to rights and dissected the bill to repair an ailing boat motor, we turned our attention to the menu! The menu at The Sitar has been unchanged for many years and it always feels like returning to visit an old friend, safe in the knowledge that no matter how long it’s been, you still know what to expect. There is plenty to choose from along with the chef accommodating your requirements in terms of mild, medium or hot and the option of deboned meat for a small additional charge. As we know the portions are generous we decided against starters, ordering mains and a selection of breads, rice, side dishes and extra sambals to suit us all. The manageress brought us their very good wine list, but we chose to stick to shots and Savannas as our friends are not wine lovers.
Our companions had dined there more recently than us and having had their taste buds terrified, they begged us to exercise caution and order the mild option. Ever the exhibitionist, this caused a snort of derision from my husband, followed by his order of the beef vindaloo, extra hot and “bring some extra chillies too shamwari”. Typical! So while the wimps went for mild bhuna gooht and extra, extra, extra mild murg masala, I settled on my old favourite, tried, tested and always enjoyed medium kheema matar. When everything arrived, the table was positively groaning under the collective weight of so many dishes and we all felt fairly certain we’d overdone our order and were going to regret it!
With a second round of drinks ordered, we tucked in and conversation all but ceased for a good five minutes while we arranged our plates and savoured the wonderful flavours of the different dishes, offering everyone a sample of our mains and doing a bit of swapping. Everything was delicious. We really couldn’t find anything to complain about, except, being human, we always do . . . so, having erred on the side of caution, everyone, including my husband with his extra hot vindaloo, found we could actually have done with a little more heat. The flavour of all dishes was superb, but even the vindaloo lacked the expected kick; no satisfying running of the nose or cold sweat on the crown of your head! Even the wimps were coerced into having a taste and agreed it was “very tasty” and not “owie, owie, owie”! The aloo sabzi was divine and having watched my husband and I fighting over the last of the lime pickle, our friends suggested that we order one each, next time.
Suffice to say, every plate was cleaned and my husband used the last bits of garlic naan to wipe clean the lime pickle dish and remaining gravy from everyone else’s serving dishes! He’s a tall lad with hollow legs!
Having eaten more than our fill and taken rather a long time to do it, it was unanimously agreed that although the dessert menu was tempting, actually to order anything would be gluttony. The guys still had drinks left and the girls decided, with a little pushing from indulgent husbands, to have dom pedros, one with whisky and one with kahlua. Of course, both husbands had no choice but to sample these and make sure that they were “up to scratch” and fit for our consumption.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
At this point we were most surprised to have four liqueur glasses of sorbet delivered to the table. I’m not sure if “amuse bouche” is quite the right term to use and sadly all my “Googling” has left me without a definitive answer! Whatever the case, I just cannot describe how delicious these little glasses of sorbet were! Puréed strawberry with chilli — quite amazing, a little like tomato jam, sweet, tart, hot and cold all at once, our mouths were amused and delighted!
It took a little while for the bill to arrive and we were the very last to leave, having enjoyed ourselves immensely and made the most of our evening out. Bill paid, we made our way to the guarded and ample parking area out front where we said our goodbyes and enjoyed a few minutes of communing with the restaurant cat.
Overall impression As I said at the start, The Sitar feels like an old friend. Comfortable and understated, casual enough to be able to wear jeans, with a cosy bar and lounge area, great food, reasonably priced, and friendly, accommodating staff. I hope they will not do anything to alter what I consider a recipe for longevity. When it comes to ticking my boxes for a relaxed, pleasurable evening out, The Sitar proved itself still a firm favourite.
Speciality Restaurant – Indian Cusine 5 Plates Expect to spend US$25 – US$40 a head 2 Cecil Rhodes Drive, Newland, Harare
