Café Monsoon, Shifnal

Reviewer's rating **** Cathy Stanworth enjoys an evening at an award-winning venue favoured by celebrities.

I believe it's always best to embark on a food review with a completely open-mind. If I'd known before-hand that Café Monsoon was an award winner which had attracted a smattering of celebrity diners, then I wouldn't have been surprised at the fabulous food now, would I?

A contemporary Indian restaurant on the outskirts of Shifnal, it was voted the best curry house in Shropshire by mystery diners last year in the Midlands Curry Awards.

And, according to the restaurant's web site, celebrity diners over recent years have included TV and radio presenter Chris Tarrant, former England goalkeeper David Seaman, ex-Wolves stars Don Goodman and Steve Bull and former snooker world champ Steve Davis.

The chefs must be doing something right as it's easy to drive past the place without noticing it's there; hence they must be attracting repeat business and word-of-mouth recommendations.

Luckily for me, my partner Simon doesn't drive with head blinkers on and had noticed the sign and then a friend also recommended it to him.

Dining there on a recent Friday night it soon became completely packed, with more prospective diners waiting patiently for a table in the seating area.

Café Monsoon has plenty of parking space and its flat entrance is at the side of a building which looks like a former large private house. Walking through the door we were immediately welcomed by a gentleman who I now assume was the manager/owner, Abdul Rouf, before being shown to our reserved table.

I liked the look of the place, with its colourful decor and chairs, spacious interior and retro 1950s-style dining booths.

We were given a booth near the bar and our friendly, smiling waiter took our drinks orders before handing us the menu. I had a decent glass of red while Simon had a pint of lager.

The menu told us how Café Monsoon was one of the "most exciting and unique modern eating venues in Shropshire, surrounded by the tranquility of nature". It offered "an exceptional contemporary concept in luxury dining", and I can't argue with that. This was to become the best Indian restaurant I have dined in to date.

The menu explained how dishes were cooked to order, without ghee due to its high cholesterol content, and the chefs had minimised their use of artificial colouring.

I am assuming there must be more than one chef, as the menu was so vast. Dishes included Tandoori specialities, Café Monsoon specials, Indian sub-continental specials, combination dishes, traditional regional dishes, byriani dishes, vegetarian and English dishes, as well as set menus and sundries.

We started off our meal with a plain papadom for me (50p) and a spiced one for Simon (60p). These came with small pots of the usual hot chutney, onion and mint sauce. There wasn't a lot of it, but it was enough - a good appetizer!

For starters I went for my staple favourite - Onion Bhaji (£2.95). I have to try these everywhere I go as I love them so much! Simon also opted for his favourite, King Prawn Bhoona Puree (£5.25).

I was in for a surprise with mine, which came with a fresh garnish. They were flat. I'm used to the traditional round ones, however, they were very good; packed with flavour and it was a generous serving, paired together with a small boat of mint sauce. And again it was thumbs up for Simon's starter, which quickly disappeared.

Our plates were cleared and, although we did have a bit of a wait for our main courses, we had been expecting this, what with everything being cooked for order and the place being so busy.

I kept looking at dishes being delivered to other tables - all looking and smelling fantastic - and began to feel hungrier and hungrier.

But it was to be well worth the wait. I had ordered something I had never had before, being Jinga Cox's Bazari on the Café Monsoon Special's menu. At £12.95 it was at the top end of the prices, but this was research after all, and so just had to be done. This was described as being king prawns with green peppers, fresh chilli, cinnamon and fresh coriander and a touch of orange zest, being medium hot.

I had ordered special Pilau rice at £2.50 to accompany it.

When my dish came I actually said "Wow" out loud. Set down before me was a large plate with enormous king prawns, still in their shells, twisted and turned upwards atop plenty of rich, creamy sauce. There were four of them and they were so big they looked like mini lobsters. They were absolutely delicious, especially coupled with the sauce and my light and tasty rice, which had arrived in a circular dessert-type bowl, before being delicately served onto my plate.

There was just enough rice to ensure that you didn't feel over full. I was very impressed with my main course.

Simon had Handi-Chicken at £8.25, being described as a medium flavoured distinctive dish with freshly cut lean marinated meat cooked in highly flavoured spices, pepper, tomatoes, onions, herbs and spices.

He also ordered special Pilau rice at £2.50 to go with it. He said it was very good and very tasty. It was enough of a portion so that you didn't go away feeling over-full, said Simon. And again the rice was good.

Neither of us really fancied a pudding, as, in our experience, the only puddings that Indian restaurants seem to offer are ordered-in frozen ice cream concoctions that are the same everywhere you go.

Yet now, having seen the puddings menu offered a Café Monsoon I realise that we should have given them a go. As well as some classic frozen choices and pineapple and banana fritters, they have strawberry cheesecake and Belgian chocolate bombe.

That settles it, a return visit is on the cards! And this time, I will have a good idea of what to expect . . .

ADDRESS

Cafe Monsoon, Wolverhampton Road, Shifnal TF11 9EZ

Tel: 01952 463344/460518

Website: http://cafe-monsoon.co.uk/

Opening hours Sun-Thur 5.30pm to 11.30pm, Fri & Sat 5.30pm to midnight

MENU SAMPLE

STARTERS

Aloo Chatt (£2.95); Tandoori King Prawn (£5.25)

MAINS

Chicken Magura (£8.25); Salmon Fish Tharkarry (£10.25)

DESSERTS

Strawberry Cheesecake (£3.15); Belgian Chocolate Bombe (£3.15)

ATMOSPHERE

Busy, warm and welcoming

SERVICE

Excellent. Very efficient, courteous and smiling staff!

DISABLED FACILITIES

Restaurant and toilets on ground floor