Both me and Graham love Indian food, so when we had the opportunity to visit Raja Monkey Indian Street Cafe in Hall Green, Birmingham, we were pretty excited – especially when we haven’t been out for a child-free meal together in years!!

It already came well recommended to us as Graham’s parents order their takeaways from here and said it was delicious – it certainly didn’t disappoint!

The restaurant is part of the Lasan group and serves what I would call ‘proper’ Indian food rather than the more westernised versions we are used to in Birmingham – you won’t find chips on this menu!

The interior of the restaurant was beautiful and rustic, with the kitchen situated right at the front in full view, so you could watch the chefs at work – it was spotless!

We ordered a bottle of Merlot whilst we checked out the menu. The very attentive and super-polite waiter came over and explained the day’s special. To start with, we both had a mixed chicken starter, which was crunchy chicken pakora and chicken thighs cooked in a spicy marinade. It was delicious – spicy and full of flavour. We also had poppodums with a selection of dips, salad and chutneys.

For the main course I chose the ‘special’ – a Punjabi Mutton Curry. I’ve never had mutton before, and I was nervous because I heard it can be quite chewy and tough. However, this was cooked to perfection. The meat was so soft and tender and just fell apart.

Graham went for his usual chicken madras, and said it was the best madras he has ever had – a perfect level of heat and full of big chunks of chicken. Between us we had a bowl of egg fried rice (delicious). We both also had naan breads which were perfect – soft yet slightly crispy.

We don’t usually order accutane desserts when we have an Indian meal, but because of the quality of the rest of the meal, we couldn’t resist. We ordered a selection of Indian sweets which were really lovely and finished off the meal perfectly.

It says a lot about a restaurant when they’re having to turn customers away on a Thursday evening in January because they are busy – but I can see why. Without a doubt, we will use this restaurant when we next order a takeaway or want to go out for an Indian meal.

You can find Raja Monkey on the Stratford Road in Hall Green, Birmingham (opposite Waitrose) – visit their website here.

*Disclosure*

We were given £40 credit towards our meal, but all thoughts and opinions are honest and are our own.