Sachins in Newcastle - Give this place a try.

Sachins was a perfect night out

I’ve been toying with the idea of writing a few restaurant reviews for some time now. I mean, I know my Indian food and want to give credit where credit is due. I’ve procrastinated and kept the idea alive but on the back burner for months.

You see, since beginning my year long commitment to cook and eat nothing but Indian food, I simply haven’t been been going out to eat very often. Two weeks ago, however we had a works night out – including kids – and luckily Sachins in Newcastle was everyone’s destination of choice.

I first heard great things about Sachins about two years ago on Twitter but this was my first visit. Our group consisted of my wife, Caroline, three work colleagues and six kids between the ages of four and 14. If Sachins was as good as I was led to believe, they were really going to have to prove themselves with this difficult bunch.

When we arrived, we were led to our table and immediately offered drinks. The staff were all very friendly and seemed to really care about making an excellent first impression. They did.

The place was packed but they treated us like we were the only ones there.

The drinks came and the four year old quickly ensured that his drink was spilled all over the table but that was cleaned up immediately with a bit of light-hearted teasing from the waiter. We couldn’t have felt more welcome.

After a good look at the menu, a man came up to the table to take our order. I recognised him from a couple of magazine articles I had read about Sachins. It was Kulmeed (Bob to his friends) Arora, the owner of Sachins.

You know it’s going to be a great evening when the owner is overseeing everything. He didn’t let us down.

For that matter, judging from the atmosphere at Sachins that night, every diner in the place seemed to love being there.

Bob took time to explain his specialty Punjabi dishes. He recommend which curries would be best for the kids and also offered to make a special korma for them that was less spicy than the usual korma.

We ordered the korma for the younger kids and butter chicken for my older daughter and son.

The adults ordered the banquet feast for five.

Sachins offers a brilliant banquet feast!

Of course we also had to order a selection of pappadams with home-made pickles and chutneys.

The pappadams arrived which had been fried and formed into triangular shapes. I loved the black pepper pappadams and we all agreed that the chutneys and pickles were about as good as it gets.

Next came the starter tandoori course which included chicken tikka, duck tikka and a melt in your mouth gorgeous lamb kabab. There was also a tandoori monkfish that was amazing.

By the time the main course arrived, we were all excited to see what else was on offer.

Now I could break into a long list of dishes with Punjabi names but I won’t.

Let’s just say that there was something there for everyone. There was a lovely lentil dish, a lamb curry that I am still trying to copy, two chicken curries and a prawn bhuna that was scooped up so quickly I didn’t even try it. Rumour has it though, it was to die for.

All this was served with rice, an assortment of vegetables and naans.

Sachins in Newcastle offers excellent value for money. We all totally loved every part of the meal and I for one can hardly wait to return.

As we left that evening I introduced myself to Bob who is now on Twitter @sachinsncl. He promised to send me a couple of his recipes for my blog.

Bob, if you are reading this, please do. I’ve got to learn to cook like you!

The Sachins website can be found at https://www.sachins.co.uk