Formby is not short of good to very good quality Indian restaurants, but every so often I like to…read morebranch out and try restaurants in other places, such as Crosby and Waterloo. Saffron is one such restaurant that I have visited in the past and continue to visit on a fairly regular basis (regular considering that it's a fifteen minute train journey to go for an Indian meal which I could easily get on my doorstep). That I choose to return to Saffron shows its quality as a restaurant and every time I have been there I have been impressed with both the range of dishes on offer and the quality of each dish I have tried. Their food is rich and full of flavour whilst still maintaining a good level of spice and they do cater for those individuals looking for something a bit milder as well. The price of some meals can be a bit expensive but are still fairly competitive for the area, and the staff are always on hand with a helping hand and friendly disposition. The restaurant is fairly spacious and bright, offering a lovely dining atmosphere in which to enjoy your meal. Saffron also has a range of special offers, including an early bird special between 5pm and 7pm, a lunch-time special between 12pm and 3pm, and a Sunday afternoon buffet; all of which represent excellent value for money.

This is a gem. The restaurant is a very friendly family run business. The menu is and mix of house…read morespecialities, including dishes in a Nepalese style, plus more well known dishes. I had the Hot Chilli Chicken (Nepalese dish), which was hot spicey, with a sweetness to it. I am always wary when I see descriptions containing the word chilli, but this dish was spot on, really tasty but not mouth burningly hot. We also had there take on chicken shashlik.Quite often this dish end up as chicken tikka with big lumps of fried tomato and onions. Saffrons version was another fantastic dish. The spices used on the chicken were the best I've ever had. They also keep about eight varieties of beer from the Liverpool Brewing Company, a micro brewery with an excellent range. Not much more to say, looking forward to our next visit

I have frequented this well respected establishment on two separate occasions with my good friend,…read morewhose name is of no consequence to the review which lies ahead. The specifics of each encounter are, once again, of little if any importance. In fact, the two visitations have almost merged into one. I have abridged the two into one and henceforth, will be treated as one, repeat ONE, review, as I am a man of few words. We partook in the very competitively priced Thursday night buffet being as it was Thursday. £6.50 the lot. Double Top! Two popadoms quickly arrived. Bog standard no more, no less. I was disappointed with the lack of the 'cat food' chutney as it coloquially known. Just the three chutneys on offer. Perhaps a chutney tray deluxe option could be offered for an extra 25p. Food for thought there for the management. It could catapult the indian food market into the 21st century. The starter plate arrived, a little ahead of schedule if I'm not out of order to suggest such a thing. Comprising a platter of meats and a sliver or two of saladation, it was well received if a little premature. At this point, there was a development. A lady in a woollen hat emerged from the cold to sit at the table behind us. Having been greeted by 'a very charming young man', her words not mine, she then quizzed the owner at great lengths about everything relating to the elderly Indian gentleman's family. He has 6 children, we gathered, 3 of each. She was sopping wet by now, and ordered a glass of wine. She was either on the pull or from the DSS. My money being on neither. Darts superstar Tony O'Shea was also sighted in the restaurant, although I cannot vouch for him being there when you visit. I digress,our chicken vindas arrived, bang on cue. Authentic as mentioned by a good soul who has previously reviewed, a skinned potato joyously bobbing in the fiery sauce. My colleague had opted, rather adventurously if I may proffer, for a keema rice whilst I traversed the well trodden keema naan path. We did mix and match, which does us great credit even if I do say so myself. Both rice and bread were above average, as was the vindaloo. My only gripe here was that another spoon of sauce would not have gone amiss. My friend disagreed, but he is a cantankerous get. The stairs up to the bogs were a bit creeky for my taste, but the urinal area is a joy to behold. Blue is most definitely the colour, troughs, cistern and overhead area, the whole shooting match. Tombola! The only downsides were £4.50 for a bottle (large, mind) of Indian ale which took the edge off what was an otherwise triumphant evening. I would have liked to have given it 8 out of 10, but have instead awarded this establishment 4 out of 5.

great friendly staff always smileing food is great the ladies somtimes are given a carnation flowerread more

Always a very pleasant experience dining here. The food is first class, as is the friendly and…read moreefficient service. They seem to do a very good trade with take-aways too. We always look forward to an evening at the Britannia Spice and would highly recommend you visiting, you won't be disappointed.

Brilliant place to get an Indian curry, the service is really good and the staff are polite. The…read morefood is amazing and always is prepared to the highest standard and the price is good as well. Highly recommended. I would say that with the lack of delivery it may put you off, but it isn't far from local residents, please don't be out off as it's a great place to get a takeaway curry. 5 stars.

Certainly not the spiciest Indian I've ever had, but still ranks as some of the best. Throw in the…read morefriendly and knowledgeable staff with the relaxed atmosphere and you have yourself a 5-star review! As I was with a large corporate group, I believe I had a chance to try nearly everything on the menu in a single visit! Nothing was disappointing. The naan might have been the best I've every had! Wash your meal down with a Kingfisher or Cobra beer to enjoy the full experience. If I had to site a fault, and it is difficult to find one, it is that the spicy level just isn't the same as it is in the states.

In my home town of Birmingham Indian cuisine is big business so much so that an Indian restaurant…read morefrom the city won the top prize on Gordon Ramsay's programme the F word and as such I am a big fan of a good Indian. Liverpool has done little to impress me on the curry front, until I decided to visit The Spice lounge which looked and sounded right up my street and how correct I was. As you would expect with restaurants in this area the decor was great and made you feel as though a meal here would be a real experience and this also turned out to be correct. The food is fantastic, it is prepared in charcoaled tandoori ovens and this is where The Spice Lounge really edges ahead of its rivals. They claim to be authentic and they are just that, they provide real food which tasted as though all the care in the world has gone into it. The prices are a little steep but the quality matches up so check it out as The Spice Lounge truly is the REAL deal.

Absolutely delicious fusion spot! The drinks were perfect and complemented the beautifully spiced…read moredishes. The ambiance was so cool and tropical, I wanted to stay there all day. Plates were pretty small, but the wait staff did a great job on recommendations for how many we would need for our group.

It wasn't exactly that I was looking for a familiar face, I promise; no, that's just what found me,…read morewhen I least expected it, but perhaps most needed it. I walked into this place, Mowgli, for a business meeting with a colleague, late on a Friday night, around 10pm. We'd had to wait for a while to be seated. It was a busy Liverpool night, the evening before Derby Day. It was right when the hostess led us around the corner towards our table, one of the booths with small swinging rope chairs, like in your childhood friend's backyard, that I caught sight of her. The sight of that face, half obscured under blonde hair as she read her menu, so arrested me that the toe of my sneaker caught on the polished linoleum floor, almost tripping me and causing an embarrassing squeak. I was certain it was her, it was unmistakeable-- and yet, it was equally unlikely, nearly impossible. So far from home, so long since we'd last met. Why, how, here in Liverpool, of all places? Even though I knew it couldn't have been the friend I remembered, I couldn't convince myself entirely otherwise. I remained in a state of agitation as we sat down, unable to fully dispel the nagging thought that a long-lost acquaintance was here, in the room, and even though she hadn't even seen me gawking as I passed, I felt I was violating some social code in avoiding greeting her. We ordered, and I ate, trying to hide my distraction, though I'm sure it registered to my colleague. I kept stealing glances towards that table near the door, probably appearing shifty, like the cops were after me. Only because of his gracious nature did my colleague steer the conversation and avoid awkward silences while we were supposed to be ironing out the finer points of the Q3 fiscal plan. Just after we got our third shared course, the Goan Fish Curry, the woman got up, put on her coat, and left. I realized I'd never know, and somehow, that thought felt torturous. Then, as she neared the front door, she turned and looked right at me from across the dining room, my bite of paneer and roti catching in my esophagus-- but no, she was looking behind me, as her companion left the restroom behind our table. And then, in a moment, there was no doubt left in the whole universe. I took a bite of the Chat Yogurt Bomb, and as it burst and gushed sweet yogurt in my mouth, she looked back once again, waved, and winked, this time unmistakably. It was a moment of Proustian, epiphanic confusion. Suddenly, the taste of the Chat reminded me that the last time I'd had that dish, years ago now in New York, had been sitting with her on one of the last times we saw each other. As I left the dinner in something of a mixed state of shellshock and acute nostalgia, I gradually realized that it couldn't possibly have been my friend, the woman whom I thought I saw. It was impossible, because I knew she was in New York. So, whoever I'd seen must really have just been some nice scouse woman with a passing resemblance, maybe enhanced by the moody ambience of the restaurant. And yet, somehow it really was her. Yes, I was tired, yes it was late, yes I've been under a lot of stress lately... and, no, it couldn't have been her. But somehow the paradox persists. That night it both wasn't, and also was, Emma. Emma, my dear old friend, a friend I miss. If you find yourself here at Mowgli Bold Street, be prepared for the impossible. Be prepared for apparitions of a friend from times bygone that you wish you could give a hi five to, but don't know when you'll have the chance to next. It's a bittersweet experience. We ate the Chat Bombs, Paneer, Fish Curry, and Mowgli's take on Chicken Tikka Masala. It was all good, tamarind and citrusy flavors in the sauces predominate, at least in the dishes we ordered. It's her birthday next month, on the 20th. I never forget a friend's birthday. Maybe I'll send her a postcard ahead of time to wish her well.

Bhaji Indian Takeaway is situated on Liverpool's busy West Derby Road. It prides itself on its…read moreextensive range of Northern and Eastern Indian food. Its menu is crammed full of different dishes so there is something for everyone; from the fiery vindaloo to the cool korma and all things in between. I'm a vindaloo man myself but opted for something a bit different when we went. I had the Narangi (a medium spiced barbecued chicken dish), which was admittedly average and my fiancee had the Chicken Tikka Makonwala. Uber cheesy, but she seemed to like it! Inside its pretty basic and sparse looking, but the food seems to be ready when they say. It is reasonably priced too, with main courses ranging from £4.25 to around £8 and the rice isn't expensive either. It well worth the money as the portions are generous. The staff are friendly and welcoming.

Wow!!!!!!! As you enter this wonderful establisment not only are you visually impressed but the…read morearomatic air tells you there is something special in store for you. The quality of the food from this brilliant take away matches any restaurant that I can think of and the surroudings remind me of an upmarket eaterie. Delivery is available but I like waiting in the plush seats and savouring what is ti come.

And so we move on to another of Formby's much loved restaurants, the Balti House. One of the…read morethings I love the most about the Balti House is how it's situated inside a small white bungalow, as if a family actually used to live there then decided to open up a restaurant instead and serve a whole load of middle-class Liverpudlian outcasts. Once inside, you are warmly greeted by the helpful staff who clearly know their kormas from their jalfrezis. The food itself is lovely, proving excellent value for money and washed down well by a few pints. We usually stumble here at the end of a 'quiet' night in the pub and find ourselves ordering the really spicy curries, despite the protestations from the staff that it might not be such a good idea (let's just say we always end up regretting it in the morning). Despite this, I would say that the Balti House is easily one of the best restaurants in Formby, offering great food at good prices. This combined with a lovely atmosphere and helpful staff serves to create a charming dining experience.

I'm not a huge fan of Indian food in the first place and I've had quite enough bad curry in…read moreManchester to put me off for life. It was only recently then that I went to Hilal - for a long time Formby's only Indian restaurant, sited inside a small bungalow on the edge of the village. It took a good few strong drinks at a friend's leaving party for me to actual venture inside. I was, I must say, pleasantly surprised. Firstly; the staff were friendly, helpful and even concerned (a friend ordered the extra strength mixed meat dish which he was advised was incredibly hot. When he said that he could handle spicy food, the waiter looked genuinely worried for the lad - a worry that turned out to be founded as he drank off several pints of iced water before he could properly talk afterwards). Secondly I very much enjoyed the dish I picked, a sweet prawn dhansak with delicately flavoured rice, which was a world away from the claggy, creamy versions I had eaten on Manchester's Curry Mile. Hilal has certainly curried favour with me. Sorry.

When I read the review below mine I thought we had been to different places, then when I re-read I…read morefigured it must have been written as she came in drunk from the night out! I don't think Indian Delight is a 2-star establishment at all. This is one of the best Indian's in Liverpool City Centre, the food is great, the staff are so quick and reliable, plus the price is great. Considering most people that walk into Indian Delight are slightly worse for wear, the staff are always really respectful and polite as long as you're not shouting abuse at them. I strongly recommend the chicken makhonwalla, lamb sagwala and of course the poppadoms!

2.30am and we were looking for a curry. Only problem was, UnI had just turned their lights off, so…read morewe were stood swaying on Renshaw Street wondering how we could possibly go anywhere else for a curry. Luckily, the lights from Indian Delight won us over - plus it was freezing and we were hungry and drunk. Unfortunately, not as good as UnI. The dips with the poppadoms tasted wrong and I ended up ordering a dansak instead of my staple korma. My opinion is no reflection on the staff, however, who were lovely and so quick we were amazed. Another thing to point out is that I never ever manage to finish a whole curry to myself, but this time I did. And it really wasn't that bad. We were all just tainted by our love of the place nextdoor-but-one. The meal came to less than £60 for four of us, which you can't really complain about. Sorry to the staff for giving you 2 stars, but its really not a reflection on you. It just didn't live up to our expectations!