Ashoka Restaurant
Food in Scotland
Ashoka
Ashton Lane
Glasgow
0141 357 5904/1115
Ashoka restaurants are familiar to Glaswegians as part of the Harlequin leisure group that now has some 13 restaurants throughout the city and surrounding area.
The first of these was the Ashoka West End near the Kelvingrove Art Gallery which opened in 1984 and its success led to the establishment of more restaurants including the Ashoka Ashton Lane.
Ashton Lane is a small cobbled lane off busy Byres Road right in the heart of Glasgow's west end and on the edge of the Glasgow University campus resulting in a high percentage of student clientele.
However the Ashoka Ashton Lane is far from a rough and ready student hang out and offers great curries at reasonable prices in pleasant surroundings and good service. Most of the tables are arranged in booths round the wall and a colourful mural right along the back wall adds to the friendly atmosphere.
Although we visited on a Sunday evening after the end of the university term the nearly full restaurant was testament to its popularity among locals and visitors with several foreign parties enjoying a typical Glasgow curry.
Luckily we got a table despite not having booked and were soon deliberating over the wide choice of curries on the menu from mild to hot with everything in between.
A speciality of the Ashoka Ashton Lane which is not always found on menus elsewhere is the dosa, an Indian pancake packed with a choice of fillings and served along with rice.
We ordered up two starters to share between three with chicken pakora and a mixed pakora (both �3.95) but the portions are big for a starter and perhaps one would have been enough.
The chicken pakora had around eight decent sized pieces of succulent chicken cooked just right in crispy batter while the mixed platter gave everyone the chance to sample fish, vegetable and mushroom pakora all served with a spicy yoghurt sauce.
For the main course we ordered up the chicken karahi bhuna (�7.75), the aloo saag (potato and spinach �5.65) and the chicken patia (�3.75 for a child's portion including rice) along with two portions of pilau rice and naan bread.
The karahi bhuna came just as my partner likes it sizzling in a hot cast iron dish and was bursting with all the different flavours including ginger, peppers, garlic and coriander coming through strongly to complement the tasty chicken.
The saag aloo was also delicious and full of flavour with big chunks of new potato in the spicy spinach which had quite a kick and necessitated a large jug of iced water from the bar.
The chicken patia, with a tangy sweet and sour style sauce, was also voted a good choice but even a child's portion was a big challenge for a young appetite as rice in included in the price.
We did our best but curries are very filling, especially if you take a starter first and we were forced to leave some and pass on the desserts.
All in all the Ashoka Ashton Lane has all the ingredients to become a firm favourite and with the total bill for three with soft drinks adding up to just over �30 it's not bad value either.
Details of all the Harlequin group restaurants can be found on their website www.harlequin-leisure.co.uk
~ Lorraine Wakefield
(12/7/01)