Next up in Blog Preston’s series of reviews – Best and Worst Preston Takeaways According to Just Eat – is Greedy Munchkin in Bamber Bridge. Offering curries, pizzas, burgers and kebabs, it scores an impressive 5.42 out of 6 in reviews, with customers praising the “fresh, hot pizza,” and the “tasty curries.” 

It’s an odd name. The words “Greedy Munchkin” sound like something you might say in a jolly tone through gritted teeth to your friend’s horrible kid, Tristrum, should you find him eating your manuka honey off his manky fist and schlomping around the kitchen in your favourite shoes. I started getting angry as soon as I thought of that comparison, even though the unfortunate, lumpy Tristrum doesn’t exist. I just made him up and now we all hate him, which is an undeservedly poor start for this week’s take-away.

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There was the option to have some of the curries “Asian style” so that’s what I went for. A few minutes after ordering I received a call from the takeaway making sure that I knew what “Asian style” was, and warning that their authentic tikka masala wouldn’t be made with cream and sugar. As I have a first name that screams chicken korma and boiled rice I appreciated the “heads up,” but assured the polite man on the phone that it wasn’t a mistake. 

The order arrived ten minutes before the promised time, which meant a panicked scuffle with my inflatable foot massager, but I made it to the door to be handed a bag of food that was still hot. Impressive as I live quite a distance from Bamber Bridge. 

As soon as I took the lid off the chicken tikka masala I could see that it was different from the type usually found in takeaways, as the herbs and spices were visible in all of the sauces. It had the tanginess of tomatoes and only enough sugar to take the bitterness out of them. I’d asked for everything to be of medium heat, and it was, though as it was “Asian style” it was hotter than the very mild, anglicised versions of a tikka masala.

The Bombay potatoes contained firm new potatoes instead of the more floury type that I expected. They were in a thick, aromatic, onion based sauce which was noticeably different to the tikka masala, though equally delicious. 

Paneer (a mild cheese that holds its shape in a curry, usually cut into cubes) shahi was excellent, though quite similar to the sauce in the Bombay potatoes. The paneer worked well in the curry, making it a good option for vegetarians who fancy a change from lentils and vegetables. 

A large portion of pilau rice was also packed with spices, making it a pale beige colour. Not the best aesthetically, but if colour intensity was an indication of flavour it would have been the same bright yellow as the supermarket pilau rice that perversely tastes mournfully beige. I also ordered a plain naan bread which was unremarkable but fulfilled it’s transportation duty.

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The mains, sides and rice were preceded by a large starter portion of mildly spiced chicken pakoras that weren’t light on chicken, and two perfect onion bhajis that were flat and crispy without the excessive gram flour that can make bhajis unpleasantly claggy. The chicken was tasty but a little on the dry side and would have benefitted from a dunk in some thick yoghurt and mint sauce, but the thin, watery sauce that I received wasn’t up to the job.

It was the only thing that disappointed me, but the side of fries I ordered more than made up for it. I rarely enjoy skinny fries from a takeaway as they seem to go cold and soggy almost instantly, but these were still hot, crunchy, and liberally doused in red salt. I’m a saltaholic so that was ok, but it would be way too much for some people. 

The takeaway from Greedy Munchkin was easily my favourite of the review series so far. They didn’t stint on the more costly ingredients such as chicken and paneer, the portions are big, and the curries aren’t spoilt by an overload of sugar like the ones I ordered from Tiger Belly. I’d finally found a place that makes authentic Indian food! 

As I was sitting on my sofa in my takeaway kaftan, I had a lovely moment when I looked up and realised that all of my favourite things were lined up in front of me. Kaftan, excellent takeaway, blanket, foot massager and my dog Archie, with his ridiculous ears, trying and failing to obscure Netflix on my TV. All it needed to achieve perfection would be my two daughters standing behind the TV without access to my remote control, and a forkless Yvonne outside, watching my food through a window like the little match girl. 

It was a terrific value offer of 4 poppadoms and chutneys, two starters, two curries, a big portion of pilau rice, a naan bread and two cans of coke for £12.90. I added yoghurt sauce for 60p, chips for £1.20 and a side of Bombay potatoes for £2.95, bringing the total to £18.65 which would have easily fed four adults. Unfortunately the price was hiked up by the £4.00 delivery and service charge on Just Eat, but I’d guess that ordering straight from the restaurant would cost less, so that might be worth a try.

It’s a pity that so few takeaways give the option of authentic curries. As a nation I believe we’ve moved on from the majority thinking curry is just a 70’s beef casserole with the addition of a grainy teaspoon of Schwartz curry powder and a handful of sultanas. 

I’ll definitely order from Greedy Munchkin again, and highly recommend it to all fans of authentic curries. Next time I intend to put my trust in the talented chefs and ask for any two medium “Asian style” curries and one side, on or off menu as long as they all taste different and don’t contain any horrible mushrooms. 

Would you like more Indian takeaways to offer authentic curries? Let us know in the comments below