Raja Monkey Looking Spicy and Chic with New Look & Menu

October means it's National Curry Week!

We headed to our favourite neighbourhood restaurant Raja Monkey to see their new look and new menu!

Situated in Hall Green, this curry house has been around for about 14 years and through lockdown built a lovely terraced seating out the front and extended the building. It's also part of the Lasan Group of restaurant who run, Lasan and Fiesta Del Asdao in Birmingham and Sonrisa in Leicester.

We were greeted with a view of the kitchen and you can see all of the chefs hard at work conjuring the most amazing smelling dishes. On the left of the kitchen is where the seating is, with an array of casual tables, booths and benches.

The decor is minimalistic but cosy and is much more inviting place than it used to be.  

Poppadums are a vital measure for a good restaurant and these were 10/10, so we all started very happy! I liked the simple menu because you aren’t bogged down with choice, so it was easy to make a quick decision.

The starters are ‘dawat’ style - small for sharing - but actually were a lot bigger than we were expecting.
For starters we ordered a Masala Aloo Dosa which was incredibly light, it was filled with spicy potatoes and came with a side of a sweet tomato sauce to spread across the Dosa which tasted absolutely amazing.

We then ordered Harissa Chicken Wings, an all time fave; it was a good size portion perfectly cooked and full of flavour, juicy but crispy too. It came served with watercress and green chilli pesto, which was a bit of an odd combination if you ask me, and didn't quite go well. 

We also had the chargrilled chicken thighs which was cooked in lovely creamy cardamom marinade. All were very well presented.

As for mains, we had Chicken Bhuna which was jam-packed with exciting flavours with a spicy sauce. We then ordered a Mutton curry, very heavy but filled with spicy flavours accompanied by some fluffy mushroom rice and a hot, buttery naan.

It’s a great value restaurant and we would definitely need to return and try the Thali - a platter of individual curries with dhal, rice and vegetable masalas.