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hand picked restaurants

Part of the Whitbread family, Table Table restaurants aim to bring great value tasty pub food to an ever increasing eating-out public who like well prepared and genuine food served by friendly staff in relaxing surroundings. If that sounds too much like a dream come true be assured that at Table Table they also walk the talk, and are pleased to have the chance to prove it.

Their well located restaurants are spread across a wide range of decors and styles, and all of them share a determination to provide comfort, warmth and relaxation. Their buffet menus for special occasions are remarkable value

In keeping with modern trends they provide dishes to nibble or share as guests consider the spread of options on a menu that could be described as British with welcome incursions. So as you share long Italian flatbread, and dough balls and dips, or a sharing platter with an imaginative range of finger food starting with garlic and breaded mushrooms, it's time to think about the relative merits of aromatic duck parcels, a prawn cocktail, breaded Camembert or sticky chicken goujons to name but a few.

Many an innocent dish from the past has been hi-jacked in the best possible sense into becoming what is now called a 'pub classic'. Wiltshire cured ham with eggs is served with chunky chips and beef, mushroom and ale pie, or chicken and chips are all familiar with British tables, be they in the dining room or the kitchen. Now they have been added to by chicken fajitas, a sweet red pepper, crème fraiche and fennel tart, a leg of duck slowly cooked and served with a Bramley apple and cider sauce, or chilli con carne with basmati rice, sour cream and guacamole and nachos. So is the humble burger with six enticing toppings.

The point is they, and others, are all here at Table Table, well prepared with quality ingredients, and presented in a way that makes you hungry even if you thought you weren't.

Getting down to the more serious side of the table keep an eye open for the seafood pie, a delightful assembly of things fishy including crayfish, red snapper, prawns and clams. Many of their steaks are 28 days matured, including a 7oz fillet. All steaks are served with watercress, roasted cherry tomatoes, a flat mushroom and chunky chips. A choice from 4 sauces adds the final touch of enjoyment.

Pastas and salads embrace some well known and loved names, but for sheer enjoyment the hot smoked salmon salad takes some beating - flakes of hot smoked salmon mixed with a house salad and soy and ginger sauce. A real winner.

Snacks aplenty cover hot baguettes with the like of grilled pork loin and Bramley apple sauce, sandwiches filled with Cheddar cheese, or prawns and Marie Rose sauce, and jacket potatoes with such temptations as chilli con carne. Add a bowl of chips for only a little extra.

A well travelled wine list offers helpful advice for the uninitiated and there's an impressive choice of draught and bottled beers and lagers. All in all it would appear that Table Table are more than achieving their aims, providing the opportunity for people to eat out enjoyably, with excellent value for money. Long may they continue to do so.

For completely up to date information on menu changes and special offers do make a regular check on their lively Website.

With quality food, friendly staff, quick service and excellent value for money, Nando's is a great place to eat. Don't expect identikit, pre-fab restaurant interiors which are usually a staple of the larger chains; each restaurant is tailored to its local surroundings and customers, offering up a unique restaurant experience to go with the equally unique taste of legendary, Portuguese, Peri-Peri chicken.

Your peri-peri chicken, when the chips are down so to speak, is a fresh A grade chicken that has never seen the inside of a freezer, but having made the supreme sacrifice is butterfly-cut, marinated for 24 hours in a secret brew called - you've guessed - peri-peri, and is then cooked to your choice over an open flame.

There are, of course, many variations on this broad theme, numerous plays on words such as Nando's experi-perience, peri-peri good reasons why you should eat at a Nando's, and all one hopes is that for their sake chicken never goes out of fashion. New Nando's are opening all the time, peri-peri quickly in fact, the spicy bastes become hotter and more daring, and the full platter offers a whole chicken, large chips or spicy rice and Nando's salad or coleslaw.

Since chickens are vegetarian it seems logical you can order veggie or bean burgers and patties, and still feel the heat from the peppers. All in all, Nando's is hotly recommended for those occasions when you have a large following of permanently hungry children, or adults even, to keep happy - the only thing taken really seriously is the quality of those peri-peri good chickens.

Nando's is a place for bright people who love to laugh and love to eat, and is guaranteed to spice up your taste buds. Their fun approach to life means that when you visit Nando's you can fully relax without the airs and graces associated with more starchy dining out.

For the location of your nearest Nando's restaurant and a host of details about menus, parties and drinks, a click on their Website will reveal a Pandora's box of information.

For over twenty years Omar Khan's rightfully enjoys its reputation as a respectable Asian restaurant in an area where there is no dearth of curry houses. Step inside and the striking red décor grabs your attention immediately and mirrors, artwork and dark wood furniture adorn the elegantly dressed dining area.

The menu could open with cashew rolls, sautéed mushrooms with onions, garlic and a hint of spices, or char-grilled cottage cheese. For main courses there is haddock seasoned with fresh herbs and cooked in a light spicy sauce with lemon, ginger and coriander or a rich chicken curry made with whipped yogurt, thyme and spices, and simmered in its own stock.

If you enjoy the smoky flavour of grilled meats then try the lamb tikka, or there are succulent pieces of diced chicken marinated in yogurt, cream cheese and fresh herbs for those of a more delicate palate.

When translated, 'desi khana' means traditional home cooking and that's exactly what Saffron Desi, an Indian restaurant in Leeds Road provides. A stylish ambiance of leather banquet seats, wooden floors, and lights that change with the mood welcomes customers.

With chefs that have catered for the likes of Princess Diana and more recently Prince William, Saffron Desi offers an experience that combines tasty traditional and modern cuisine with warm Indian hospitality.

Feast on rare specials of lamb brain; quail with herbs; lamb trotters, and Kashmir ke khaliye or meat cooked on the bone. Choices range from starters of a tandoori mixed grill loaded with chicken tikka, lamb chops, and fish and seekh kebab, to Chef Parvez Akhtar's specialities of Saffron delight, diced breast of chicken marinated with yoghurt and special masala sauce with herbs and cooked with tomatoes, ginger, onions, a blend of spices and cream. The list goes on to present balti vegetarian specials, curries and traditional rice creations.

Zouk deviates from popular notions of curry houses because it does away with the usual trappings of a restaurant and emerges as a tea bar and grill where friends could meet over deliciously prepared meals and converse easily as if they were at home. The friendly atmosphere offsets their healthy Lahore cuisine and the setting is stylish and modern. They are open all day and their chefs use the freshest ingredients to create authentic Indian cuisine that has won them quite a few accolades too.

Amongst starters, choose from gola kabab, minced chicken combined with paneer and herbs or tender lamb chops served with tamarind and chilli sauce. Vegetarians could try the masala mirch, a long chilli stuffed with herbs, spices and pan fried with onions and tomatoes. Traditional favourites abound in the main course such as paya, sheep trotters cooked for several hours, or chicken haleem, prepared with lentils and broken wheat.