TAKEAWAY TEST: Jeera, Crookes, Sheffield
IT is all too easy to take Asian food for granted.
After all, restaurants and takeaways seem to be more prevalent than pubs these days and while the quality can vary the menu rarely seems to. So, ahem, three Jeeras for this place.
When their menu landed through the letterbox it was about to be consigned to the drawer in the kitchen with all the others when a couple of unfamiliar items jumped out of the long list of dishes.
The likes of bodinia, with butter beans, the shorba, strongly flavoured wtih ginger and garlic, and the sweet almond and coconut sauce-laced makhoni, stuck out like colourful cousins at an already lively wedding.
In fact, a lot of thought has gone into the Jeera menu which consigns the usual candidates to a very efficient panel on a page beside the specialities legend.
Then there's the tavah and handi dishes, the former made with fresh oranges among other things.
Needless to say this brought indecision when it came time to test out the Jeera, actually a contemporary-decorated Bangladeshi and Indian restaurant just beyond the main drag in Crookes, but pro-actively takeaway.
Dodging the lure of a couple of intriguing-sounding starters, we opted for something called amchi gostaba, a best of both worlds-style dish that saw chicken breast stuffed with minced lamb and marinated with spices and herbs before roasting. If that wasn't enough, it arrived in a medium spiced sauce with strips of fresh mango to make you feel like you were maybe getting one of your five-a-day into the bargain.
For a different texture and a bit of a test – a good Indian fish dish often seems hard to come by – we plumped for the ayre fish handi, "cooked with chef's special recipe, full flavours of traditional home cooking". The result was something more savoury than the other main dish and sturdy enough to blend with the various flavours flying out for a very satisfying mouthful
This wasn't our best takeaway yet, and much of the adventure lay in choosing what to have, but the victory came with the contrast to the usual choices.
With a chapatti for mopping up purposes and a decent vegetarian rice – and a 10 per cent discount for collection – plus a brace of poppadoms thrown in for good measure this was a worthwhile diversion from our immediately local haunts.
And with lau gosth, chingri, murgi massala and shahee chicken all still demanding investigation, it seems the Jeera menu could be inspiring more visits.
Venue: 190-192 Northfield Road, Crookes, Sheffield S10 1QU
Telephone: 0114 2684888
Opening times: Seven days (including bank holidays) 5.30pm-11pm
Parking: On main road or side street
Atmosphere: Friendly
Service: Polite, efficient
Delivery: Free within three-mile radius for minimum 10 order
Range of menu: Extensive with many less obvious options
What we had: Amchi gostaba (7), ayre fish handi (5.50), vegetarian rice (2.30), chappati (90p)
Waiting time: 15 minutes
How did it taste? Busy but committed
Verdict: Good results earning a return visit.
What do you think? Add your comment below.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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