Wednesday 2 November 2011

Jaldi Jaldi, Leeds

I love Mumtaz. Proof of my love for Mumtaz can be found in the fact that I dined there on Christmas Day last year. Balls to turkey. Unfortunately I don't love Jaldi Jaldi so much.

In case you've not noticed them popping up all over the place in the last year or two, Jaldi Jaldi is the Mumtaz group's expanding franchised takeaway brand. The idea is a good one in theory: sell Mumtaz curries in conveniently located takeaway outlets.


Disappointingly it doesn't quite stack up because the food isn't that great. Most of the food is pre-made and displayed in the chiller counter, which is fine for curries but not so good for other things if the turnover isn't very rapid. I had some vegetable pakoras to start off with and they were crap. Dry, clarty and with little flavour other than chilli heat, whenever they were freshly fried was a very long time before I got them.


Lamb rogan josh was better, but still a long way below the Mumtaz restaurant standard. I think the Jaldi Jaldi curries are probably the same as those sold under the Mumtaz brand in supermarkets, and if I'm right you're paying a significant premium for the option of someone warming it up for you.

The accompanying chapattis tasted fine, but were a bit dry and crumbly, another tell-tale sign of stuff being served way past its best.

I had high hopes for Jaldi Jaldi, as I've already mentioned I'm a big fan of the Mumtaz restaurants, but this just seems to be more about cashing in on the brand reputation rather than any genuine attempt to sell good food.

I haven't tried any of the other things on the menu (this was my second curry from there though), but the fact that it in addition to curry it lists naan paninis, jumbo wraps, sandwiches, gourmet pasties and pies, chicken and chips, cakes, muffins and sponge pudding and custard says it all really. They're trying to cover all bases and probably not covering any of them particularly well.

The meal cost me around £8.50.

4/10

There are currently fourteen branches. I went to:

Neville Street
Leeds
LS1 4BQ


www.jaldijaldi.com


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