Mem Shaib

I live in Los Angeles now (where most people don’t understand that spice is not just a synonym for raw green chilli) so every time I come back to the UK my colleague and I travel from Sussex to here for the best Bangladeshi dishes I have ever eaten. Friendliest of owner and staff. It’s like coming home to a family dinner.

The wife and I had our Valentine’s meal at the Memsahib. It wasn’t out of choice, in fact we only found it by accident, I was actually doing a u-​turn to go back to Wolverhampton. I saw the sign and thought why not? Up the stairs we went, its not an impressive start, and then into the main restaurant which is far more appealing. We were duly greeted and seated by our very pleasant waiter but admit I was slightly concerned that even though it was only 6.30pm there were no other diners. I like the décor, reminiscent of the days of the raj, it may need a refresh in parts but I found it very relaxing, though I’m aware this may be a different story when busy. The menu isn’t as comprehensive as some but covers most of the bases, as mentioned elsewhere it isn’t cheap and some of the specials I feel are very expensive but there is a Sunday to Thursday offer at £11.95 to take advantage of.
The popadoms came with just yoghurt & onions, plain & simple but seemed to be better for it. The sheek kebab didn’t arrive on a sizzler, but it and the onion bhaji were very good, both fresh and tasty without being too hot. Each served with a simple salad. Our main courses, of jalfrezi and chicken & chick pea were also to our taste similarly well spiced, not too hot with the chicken as it should be. The curry sauce has a very slight oil consistency to it, but again that is personally how I prefer it and think it should be. There were no problems with the sundries albeit the chips were only a couple of cm long. Due to the prices we decided to pass on the deserts.
The service was excellent, friendly, relaxed and timely throughout. The restaurant slowly filled to just less than half full during our time there and seemed to be doing well on the take aways. It is pricey and probably suffers because of this, it also lacks a few extra touches but the wife and I really enjoyed the food & ambience there.

This place scored just ONE STAR for their recent food hygiene visit, so beware folks!

The food here was excellent, It’s such a nice change to go to an Indian restaurant and see something other than the usual typical items on the menu. While you could still get the same old boring samosas, bhajees, balti etc the also have a wide selection of less common place alternatives. My starter was chickpea and chicken pancakes and I had a monkfish and king prawn dish for the main course. The restaurant looks lovely, very colonial and the food is excellent, the only thing that lets it down is the service, we waited quite some time for someone to take our order even though they didn’t seem that busy. It’s a little pricier than your typical curry house but the excellent menu makes up for it even if the service doesn’t. I would still go here again