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If you’ve ever had a real desire
to go out for a Chinese or a Thai meal, but your partner insists
they’d prefer an Indian, then The Silk Road is a multi-cuisine
establishment that will probably solve this particular problem
for you. With a wide range of dishes from the sub continent,
there really is something here to satisfy the vast majority of
taste buds.
 On
arrival we decided to have a drink in the comfortable armchairs
and I personally would use this time to review the extensive
menu. By any standards there are countless dishes to feast your
eyes on. The Silk Road boasts that they have “designed a menu
that is contemporary in style yet still maintains the tradition
of authentic Indian cooking.”
This is ironically, where I
moaned a little. I wondered immediately on reading on, whether
this was a truly a multi-cuisine restaurant or not? The answer
is probably “not” because the menu is biased towards traditional
Indian dishes with far fewer choices for Chinese or Thai.
Décor
One of the first things to strike you is the perfect lighting.
With brown circular lightshades that are probably over three
feet long and look great, there is a cosy and romantic feel to
The Silk Road. There is more than ample room between tables too,
so no matter where you are seated, you should feel comfortable.
You cannot say this about many restaurants in Milton Keynes. The
brown, high-back leather chairs not only look good, but they are
comfortable too.
Service
My guest continued to “Awww” and “Ahhhhh” all evening regarding
the waiting staff; commenting often how incredibly friendly and
polite they were. This is how service should be. We kept a close
eye on them waiting on other tables and it was perfectly obvious
the staff enjoyed their job, cared about their customers and the
smiles were genuine.
Atmosphere
It does of course help, if like me on this occasion, you’re in
great company, but whoever you’re with, and no matter whether
the restaurant is half empty or full; there is a relaxed
atmosphere about the Silk Road that many establishments would
die for. If you’ve had a hard day in the office and need to
chill out for a while, come here!
Food
A selection of both poppadums and prawn crackers are brought to
your table soon after taking to your seat. I did find this
combination strange at first, but I have to confess it does work
surprisingly well.
If you enjoy a glass of white
wine we would happily recommend you try the Lindemans Premier
Selection Chardonnay. Light, medium, Australian wine, pale straw
in colour with fruit characters and a nutty background. This
proved a lovely accompaniment to our meal and I will definitely
be drinking this again soon.
 We
took some time to make our choices but never felt rushed. There
are some 27 starters to choose from alone. I have visited
Thailand and spent many evenings eating their gorgeous food so
opted for the Thai style fish
cakes with sweet chilli dip (thai shi yu bing).
Flakes of
fish, special Thai fish sauce, kaffir lime leaves and Thai red
chillies pounded together and made into small patties then pan
fried and served on a bed of salad with a sweet chilli dip.
There were four fish cakes which made for a generous start. The
salad was fresh and the sweet chilli had a nice kick to it.
All-in-all, a pleasant introduction to food at The Silk Road.
My guest loves duck and not surprisingly opted
for a Chinese starter,
Crispy aromatic duck (1/4): Served with cucumber, spring
onions and pancake. £8.50. The duck was tasty and
moreish. Depending on the size of your appetite, two people
could share this dish.
For mains I again stayed
loyal to a Thai dish. I opted for one of my favourites, the
Thai Green Curry (Gaeng keoWan).
Green curry
flavoured with kafir lime leaves and Thai chillies (chicken).
I ordered steamed basmati rice which was cooked to perfection.
The curry had a real kick to it which I loved but the chillies
did not overpower the taste sensations and the chicken was
incredibly tender. A fantastic curry which more than matched the
food I enjoyed in Thailand itself.
I’ve already mentioned my guest loved duck, but
for mains they chose an Indian dish and decided to overdose
on coconut! They opted for the
Shahi Korma,
Cubes of chicken breast cooked in a rich gravy of onions, cashew
nuts and aromatic hot spices.
They chose the
Southern style
rice cooked with coconut milk and tampered with mustard seeds
and curry leaves
and peshwari naan, Unlike the chicken served with
my curry, the chicken cubes were not as tender as my guest would
have liked but they did comment that the curry was incredibly
tasty, and very little was left on the plate.
Unlike many of the Indian or Thai restaurants you
will visit in the UK, The Silk Road do put some serious thought
into their desserts and for this, they receive full marks. I am
ashamed to admit that I was not brave enough to try the
Hot Gulab
Jamun. Cottage cheese and reduced milk soaked in golden syrup
served with ice cream.
I did however, go for the
Kesar Kulfi /
Mango. Delicious home made Indian ice cream made from whole
milk, natural fruit, nut and cream.
This dessert is an absolute must! Served on a
huge white plate, the ice cream did look a little lost, but
people that visit India often rave about this dessert and now I
know why.
My guest was too full for dessert so instead, she
opted for a Cappuccino which was thoroughly enjoyed and rounded
off a great night.
In summary, when looking at our scores you may
feel we have marked down on the food because it has our lowest
number of points. We have not. Quite simply, The Silk Road
offers cuisine to a very high standard which we have marked
accordingly – but they excel with their warm and friendly
service. It is difficult to imagine anyone walking away from
here and not enjoying themselves. |
