Weekend takeaway: Little India, Didcot

Along with many other Didcot’ites one of our regular treats is a weekend takeaway. We often end up eating from the same few places (based on the ebb and flow of their food hygiene ratings!) so I’ve decided to branch out and explore more of the eateries in town.

So, my first ‘Weekend takeaway’ is Little India. What did we think of it?

Menu

The Little India menu has a good choice of vegetarian, meat and fish dishes, albeit not many duck options. As with all similar takeaways in Didcot it offers the core staples of madras, korma, bhuna and so on.

However there are a few options which aren’t on other local menus, including Morris chicken, Tamarind chicken and Asia Bangon.

Most mains appear to be at the milder end of the spectrum. I could only find vindaloo, naga and chilli chicken marked as very spicy.

I was intrigued by the Didcot Dansak; described as being created by a curry loving Didcot resident. However everything else on the menu had the usual descriptors which I think must all be taken from the same master Indian takeaway menu!

Food quality

We ordered vegetable biryani (which comes with vegetable curry), chicken tikka sag and pilau rice, whilst the teens had garlic fried chicken and lamb tikka starters as their mains.

I loved my vegetarian biryani. It contained a good amount and variety of veg. and the rice was flavoursome. The accompanying vegetable curry wasn’t at all spicy, so depending on how much heat you like this might be perfect or a disappointment. But let’s face it, no one orders a biryani for it’s spiciness.

My partner wasn’t so keen on his meal, chicken tikka sag. This was another mild dish and although the chicken tasted good he thought the sauce was watery and greasier than expected. There was also insufficient chicken to spinach ratio (he’s a harsh critic)!

The teens enjoyed their starters although the only descriptive they could come up with was good. Both came with fried onions, and one had peppers too. And there was a plastic bag of salad which remained unopened. Does anyone ever eat these?

We don’t order popadoms although these sometimes turn up free. However there were no freebies with Little India so if you want them make sure  you order them. We did however get two bright green tubs of mint sauce which I think were supposed to accompany the starters.

Portion sizes were the standard ‘fit in a plastic tub’ amount. The food was warm and well packaged; there were no greasy leaks in the bag!

Cost

Little India is either comparable or a little cheaper than similar takeaways in town. Some main dishes are 25p or 50p cheaper but bread and rice are slightly more expensive. Swings and roundabouts.

Our meal, of two starters, two mains and a pilau rice came to £22. This included a 20% discount which you get if you order via the Little India website, app or over the telephone.  Much cheaper than going via Just Eat.

Waiting time

We ordered at 7pm on a Friday and were pleasantly surprised when advised to pick up in 25 minutes. I assumed this meant we’d be waiting onsite but it was ready to take immediately. Must have been a quiet night!

Delivery service

We usually pick up our takeaways rather than have them delivered so I cannot comment on the service. However, delivery is free on orders over £20 within the OX11 postcode.

Tripadvisor shows mixed reviews for the delivery service. On the positive side they deliver to the local villages, however this doesn’t appear to be a quick option. If you can I’d suggest picking your meal up.

Have you had a takeaway from Little India? What do you think?

More info

Address: Little India, 218 Broadway, Didcot, OX11 8RS.

Opening hours: Little India is open every day from 5.30 pm. Closing time differs depending on whether you trust the website or the takeaway menu. I’d suggest ordering before 10pm on a Sunday and 11 pm every other day.

Food hygiene rating: 4 stars, as of March 2018.

Further details can be found on the Little India website.