In the two or so weeks since I ate at The Horseshoe I’ve sent three people to eat their mixed grill. It’s a recommendation that’s gone down well; one now skips the gym nearby to get his fix. I’m so proud. This verbal pyramid scheme is great in principal but not so good for my blog stats. I should probably share it with everyone, even if it means having to wait a little bit longer for my dinner.
And that mixed grill is definitely worth shouting about – it’s hands down the best in Birmingham. Fifteen quid will get you three types of chicken tikka, two types of kebab, lamb chops, chicken niblets, and a quarter of tandoori chicken. It’s all very good but ask for my opinion (and by reading this you indirectly are) and I’d pinpoint the achari tikka with the tang of pickle, and the green tikka with a chilli heat start and herbal finish. We go a little bit crazy over the lamb seekh kebab and full on bonkers over its chicken sibling. There’s very little to not like – the chicken niblets maybe at a push – but it’s all well executed. I gather that they’ve added prawns of recent. And that’s nice of them. Just as long as they’ve left my chicken seekh and green tikka untouched.
It’s at this point that I should point out that they offer two menus; the one with the mixed grill, that you should order from, and a European menu that only a moron would consider eating off. Given that the chefs here are Indian, asking for Italian is practically racist, and besides, I’ve eaten at Jimmy Spices; I’d never put myself through that again. The curries we have are good, maybe not the gloriously high standard of the mixed grill but certainly very good. My boyfriend is a bit methi chicken barmy and here the fenugreek flavour takes its time to fully unveil. When we finally get there it is worth it. I like the lamb a little bit less. There is nothing wrong with it, I just only like it and it loves me. I have a similar problem with ex boyfriends and Jesus.
I love yellow dhal so I insist on ordering it, even though it’s definitely too much food. It’s thick and spicy, like Mel B, and we load it on buttery paratha. These finish us off; nowhere to go but bed with no hope of dessert.
Service was so good it’s impossible to think that we are in a pub in Hall Green, but I’m glad we are given that I now know it to be a nice stroll from Moseley. It was impossible not to be impressed with The Horseshoe. It’s the kind of place you’d gladly tell your friends to go to, which I already have, and now I’ve put my love for it in writing, you really have no excuses not to give it a go.
