5Tara Sheffield - Duke Street — Restaurant in Sheffield

I was torn between leaving 3 or 4 stars for this. For some context: we had not booked, it was pretty busy, and there was only one person serving (on their third shift at the restaurant).

Pros: Food was excellent and pretty unique. I've lived in big cities for 15 years and eaten at many Indians and not had these dishes before. Plenty of your typical Indian and South Indian places about but never come across these Punjabi dishes before. Almost fine-dining levels of detail and lovely mixes of spices, chickpeas, pomegranate, etc. The crispy fried wrap was exceptional. Primarily vegetarian-focussed dishes, so great if you're not a meat-eater.

Cons: Service wasn't great. I don't particularly like being bothered a lot but normally I would expect to be seated, have our drinks order taken, drinks brought and food order taken, food delivered, quick check that everything's alright, maybe a drinks check, dishes cleared when we're done and ask if we want anything else, then bill. We were sat, had our order for everything together, food delivered and then didn't see anyone again until they arrived with the card machine. We were actually missing 2 mains which never arrived but didn't get a chance to bring this up until we were well finished with the other dishes. After checking our order and confirming, we were told it would be 10/15 minutes but we just cancelled them at that point. Chai was (as someone else mentioned) very small. Would prefer paying a bit more for a proper glass. Perhaps this is a traditional amount to be served but we are talking ~150ml. The only food item which I wouldn't recommend was the noodle dish. It was a small portion of spicy Supernoodles fried with veg. It was tasty (as Supernoodles are...) but not for £6/£7 (forget) and not at all comparable with how good the rest of the food was. Price. It is pretty expensive. We were told 4-5 dishes would fill you up. We were actually pretty happy with 3 (having ordered 4) but this still came to £50 for 2 of us (for our 3 dishes and thimble of chai each). At a typical Indian, you'd be taking leftovers home and would have drank a skin-full for those prices. As I said above, the food was next-level so I wouldn't begrudge them too much for the prices but you really need everything to be perfect at...

Where to start with this one. Great selection for vegans/vegetarians which was most of the menu. However I think, if you are wanting to order food AND eat it on the same night, it’s probably best to avoid. I can understand they’d just opened the shalesmoor/Kelham island location (having moved from their Duke St location) and may have experienced some teething problems but regardless, it doesn’t go far enough to excuse the length of time to actually get our food. We arrived at 7, many of us arriving before and ordered pretty much shortly after. Our starters (saving grace of the night imo) took a whole 1.15hrs to arrive. Our mains then didn’t arrive until 9.35pm a whopping 2.35hrs after ordering. I didn’t fail to notice that there were a couple of other tables that not only arrived way after we did, but also were served their food way before us, not to mention the constant stream of delivery drivers collecting takeout through the night. So, there was definitely “some” cooking going on, just not our food unfortunately. On to the food. If you’re hungry, another reason to avoid. Portion sizes were minuscule (particularly some of the starters) eg basmati rice served in little more than a ramekin. Chai tea at £3 came in a shot glass. Cans of soft drink £3..and the pratha resembled a crunchy taco in size and consistency than it did a flaky buttery multilayered flatbread. I’ve never had a pratha like it. On to the spice level. I ordered a dish that had two chillies indicating the level of heat. It should have been three. I have a high tolerance for spicy food but this was on another level. All one chilli dishes should also be relabelled two. The chicken itself was barely present in the dish, so for me I had a bowl of hot chilli curry sauce bereft of any real chunks of chicken. The restaurant itself is tiny, not really geared up for large parties. Maybe that’s why they crammed 15 of us on to an 8 seater table. One song was on repeat most of the night so you’d probably not come here for the ambience either. Thankfully there was no...

5 Tara Overnight Restaurant Taste, heart and soul of Delhi right on our doorstep...we pray they're here to stay!!! Just off the beaten track is this GEM of a restaurant. We were greeted by front of house and the genuine warmth we felt as soon as we walked through the door was unlike anything we've felt before. We were seated and given a menu, we soon realised that we were in for a TREAT and that something special was happening here. The menu clever and well thought out with a selection of dishes from the Punjab but speciality dishes from other regions of India as well. The menu has something for everyone with meat, lots of Vegetarian and vegan options also. The food is freshly prepared so expect to wait a bit but for this quality, at this level, it is certainly worth it. This is no box standard curry house this is what Sheffield has been crying out for! We usually go out of the city for authentic Indian food but not anymore... When the food came out we weren't disappointed, beautifully presented and aesthetically pleasing dishes one after the other. With every bite, we were sharing stories with our friends of where in India we had tried this before! It was like the flavours had transpoted us there! The food authetic, delicious and perfectly spiced. I could not fault any of it. Every bite was a taste explosion and greeted with a "wow" or an "ooh". The food inspired!!! We met the chef and learnt this restaurant is actually owned and run by this husband and wife dynamic duo. A very young, inspirational, charming and hard working couple. Equipped with Masters degrees in Hospitality and both having worked at some of the finest hotels in India... and it showed. The best part is, unlike curry houses in Sheffield and up and down the country, the food felt clean, not heavy and none of it came with an unpleasant thick film of oil. I was so blown away, i even left my scarf there...oh well another excuse to visit again. Thank you so much for the hospitality, exceptional food and warm conversation. We wish you both...