I always feel a little torn when I eat at EastZEast. On one hand, I like the idea of a city having incredible independent restaurants rather than chains. On the other hand, the food at EastZEast has been so strong on the occasions I’ve been that it’s hard to keep that in mind.

For one reason or another, we haven’t eaten at the Church Street restaurant in months and at short notice we decided to return. We arrived early in the evening but the main room was still respectably busy though there was no wait for a table, which was appreciated.

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We had plans for later in the evening that involved watching Preston North End and probably a trip to The Warehouse, so we had resolved not to over-indulge. That’s always easier said than done, since it takes restraint more than I possess to opt out of the poppadoms. Starter was the course reluctantly sacrificed.

The poppadoms at EastZEast are consistently enjoyable and this was no exception. The little jar at the bottom left of the above picture packs a real punch and remains my favourite. Naturally, we ended up arguing over who got to eat the last morsels of these crispy treats. The four poppadoms and pickle tray we had came to £5.35.

Mains arrived soon after. My friend opted for Chicken Methi (£9.95) and I went for Saag Gosht Handi (£10.95). Rice is charged as extra, which is always a minor annoyance, so you can add £5.90 for two portions of that. Again, we showed restraint on the Naan Bread, but past experience tells us they are always of a very high quality.

Both of us were impressed with our dishes. The Saag Gosht Handi is made with lamb and spinach and where many Indian restaurants can let themselves down with the quality of lamb, the meat here was gloriously tender. Both dishes were asked to be prepared a little bit hotter than normal, or ‘Madras Hot’ as the waiter put it.

The mains are plentiful and since we last visited the portions of rice have grown substantially, which is an improved that needed to be made. You’re paying enough for a meal here to not want to run out before your main dish has been consumed.

At the end of our meal, we both spoke of the wonderful little chilli buzz that we had as endorphins were released into our body. The only problem with this is that we were now far too relaxed to really want to engage with our plans for the evening.

The food came to a total of £32.15 although it should be noted we spent a further £12 on three alcoholic beverages. We couldn’t pick a fault with the food and indeed promised that we would return sooner rather than later next time.

We would note that the waiters were a little over-attentive at times but that can probably be attributed to the fact the restaurant wasn’t yet at its busiest. Still, EastZEast lacks real competition in the city centre and stands head, shoulders and waist above the other options. You have to head as far as the Bukhara in Samlesbury for anything that comes close.

Atmosphere: 8/10
Service: 7/10
Value: 6/10
Food: 9/10
Total: 30/40

Check out our last review of EastZEast here.

Our food reviewers pay for themselves and aren’t invited by the venue, if we are we will always say in the review.

Have you been to EastZEast? What did you think? Let us know in the comments below