Last month Cuckfield’s popular eatery Spice Village celebrated its third anniversary and invited all to come to a special evening which included a free glass of bubbly. The Indian restaurant was opened by owner Mofozzul Miah back in 2012. He saw the opportunity to open his own place having always worked for someone else up to that date. And so Spice Village was born. “We took over the building after the previous business had ceased trading. I knew there was a market for this kind of food in Cuckfield, e just had to do it right,” Mo explained. When perusing the menu - Poppadoms already in hand - we could have enjoyed a range of starters including King Prawn Butterfy, Sheek Kebab or Chicken Chat Puree. In the end we decided on Vegetable Pakora and Onion Bhaji; both of which were light and very flavousome. For mains there were many options to choose from. The very hot Chicken Naga, prepared with the notorious Bangladeshi naga chilli. The classic Madras made with either lamb, chicken, king prawn or vegetable; but in the end we decided on something milder. The Lamb Bhoona (similar to a Rogan, we were told, but less tomatoey) was extremely pleasant and went especially well with the Pilaw Rice we had ordered. Alongside (and shared
by agreement!) we tucked in to something we had never tried before: Chicken Handi. Mo suggested the yoghurt-based dish as something a bit diferent from their Signature Dishes menu. The taste was amazing, and it looked great too with a bright red sauce and green peppers. Accompanying our mains was a side of Saag Aloo (spinach & potato) and the most delicious Peshwari Nan. You could certainly taste the coconut and sultanas, with the soft bread also having some sweet, crunchy edges too. For pudding we were treated to a speciality Indian dessert made from vermicelli (known as shemai in Bengali). The sweet, served cold, was a creamy texture with the fine pasta, sultanas and cashw nuts. It was a simple and light way to finish a antastic Indian meal. Mo and his team did a great job and always ensured we were happy, glasses topped up and had what we needed. Spice Village is open seven days a week (including bank holidays) from 5.30pm. Call 01444 441373 to book your table in the restaurant on Ockenden Lane. They are even taking bookings for Christmas Day at just £29.95 per person. If you just fancy staying in on Friday night, then takeaway is no problem either. See the website www.spicevillagecuckfield.co.uk for the full menu.