Omar Khan's is a fairly traditional Indian restaurant situated in the centre of Bradford. We were in town for a weekend of curry and had eaten lunch that day at a very modern establishment so I wanted to go for the more traditional British "curry house" in the evening. I found Omar Khan's ... Read review
Advantages: Good central location, pleasant surroundings, tasty food at good prices Disadvantages: Service a little slow at times, average for Bradford
Omar Khan's is a fairly traditional Indian restaurant situated in the centre of Bradford. We were in town for a weekend of curry and had eaten lunch that day at a very modern establishment so I wanted to go for the more traditional British "curry house" in the evening. I found Omar Khan's listed on the Visit Bradford website and a look at the restaurants own website was encouraging.
The restaurant is situated on the south ... ...Would I go back to Omar Khan's? Probably not because there are so many Indian restaurants in Bradford andwhile we enjoyed some good food here there was no wow factor. However, I would recommend it to visitors to Bradford, even if we had paid the full price it would have been very good value as the main courses in particular were very reasonable, especially given the portion sizes.
Omar Khan's is a fairly traditional Indian restaurant situated in the centre of Bradford. We were in town for a weekend of curry and had eaten lunch that day at a very modern establishment so I wanted to go for the more traditional British "curry house" in the evening. I found Omar Khan's listed on the Visit Bradford website and a look at the restaurants own website was encouraging.
The restaurant is situated on the south side of the city centre, beside the national Television and Media Museum and the Alhambra Theatre. The restaurant has a small car-park but there are other car-parks nearby and it's a five minute walk to the train and bus stations at Bradford Interchange. It wasn't immediately obvious where the main entrance was as we approached the building from the side and climbed up a small flight of steep steps.
The initial impression was disappointing. Two waiters were sitting (perhaps lounging would be more correct) in a small conservatory where the tables had cloths but weren't laid out for dinner. We walked into the main part of the restaurant and approached what appeared to be the reception desk. There were two members of staff behind here but they didn't acknowledge us and chatted between themselves. We were acknowledged by a waiter who emerged from the main dining room laden with plates. I told him we had a reservation and he asked if we wanted to go straight to our table. There was a small bar area but there was a fairly noisy group of four in standing at the bar and so we decided to go straight to our table.
The restaurant has two main dining rooms and a conservatory though I believe the latter is not in constant use. The restaurant is in an old house so you get high ceilings, grand fireplaces and lots of nice architectural and design features that make the place look quite elegant. The colour scheme (a dusky dark pink and a golden yellow) is warm and inviting and there were some nice prints on the walls. The chairs are nicely upholstered and looked very smart but the tables with their chrome tubing legs peeking out from under the cloths look out of place with the rest of the decor.
We were led to the larger of the two interconnecting dining rooms and led to a table for two. As it was quiet that evening we could have been given a larger table which would have been more comfortable when the food arrived because some of the plates were quite large. We were asked about drinks immediately but these did not arrive until after we had ordered our food, a good ten minutes later.
The menu is quite lengthy but easy to navigate although it seems to have a couple sections too many but this is more in the way the different dishes have been listed rather than there being too much choice. For example, there were "Chef's specials" and "Khan's inventions"; then there were karahi dishes which are distinctive because of the small pot they are cooked in. All the usual sauces are there - dopiaza, jalfrezi, etc - as well as a selection of tandoori dishes and an excellent selection of fish dishes.
We were a little ambitious when it came to ordering, but then it's difficult to anticipate portion sizes when you eat somewhere new. From the starters I chose chana poori (£2.50) and my companion opted for the fish pakura (£3.75). For our main courses I chose from the "Ok's creations" selection - lamb rogalli (£6.75), while he-who-must-eat-curry chose the mutton chops (£8.50). We ordered a nan bread and a plain pillau rice to share.
I felt challenged as soon as my starter was placed in front of me - that sinking feeling when you wonder how exactly you are going to eat everything you've ordered and feel bad because you know you're going to leave some. A poori is basically a fried chappati and this one had puffed up to quite a size; it was folded in half and inside it was a hefty pile of beautifully soft chickpeas in a rich and flavoursome sauce. It was only slightly hot but it was well spiced. The fish pakura were a triumph; lots of generous sized pieces of tender white fish covered in a light, spiced batter. This dish was served with a small dish of tangy mint sauce.
The main courses arrived not long after the starters had been cleared away and we might have fared better had we asked them to wait a while. The mutton chops came sizzling on a hotplate and with a dish of a greenish sauce. The chops had been marinaded in yoghurt and spices.When ordering there had been a choice of mild, medium or spicy and himself had chosen the latter which he said was good but not especially hot. At first I declined a chop when offered, I don't really eat them as I don't like meat that has lots of fat but I was persuaded to give one a go. I was amazed just how much meat there was on each one and how little fat too. The chops had been marinaded well but did need the sauce to make them less dry. My dish was filled with lamb although the pieces were smaller than I would have liked. The sauce was tomato based and had lots of fresh ginger, some pieces of ginger were a bit too big and weren't nice to eat. Overall, though, the flavour was excellent and quite different to anything I've tried before. The nan bread was very tasty - probably because it was swimming in ghee - and pretty big, and the pillau rice was well cooked.
Although we weren't hurried along, neither were we offered coffees or desserts. However, we were repeatedly asked if we wanted to order more drinks while we were eating. The plates stayed on the table longer than I'd have expected especially given that it wasn't very busy that evening. Had we been at home we'd have asked for the remaining food to be packaged up to take away as diners at another table did.
Now for the best bit - though I can't guarantee this happens to every diner. The total for our meal was £25.20! Admittedly we only had one large diet Coke and one pint of Cobra but we'd expected to pay much more. The two starters were billed together as £3.50 while the rice and nan were combined at £1.80. As far as I know there were no special offers so maybe there was a mistake? I have no idea and I wasn't about to question it.
Would I go back to Omar Khan's? Probably not because there are so many Indian restaurants in Bradford andwhile we enjoyed some good food here there was no wow factor. However, I would recommend it to visitors to Bradford, even if we had paid the full price it would have been very good value as the main courses in particular were very reasonable, especially given the portion sizes.
