LEE RAJ WORTH A VISIT

Lee Raj: 23 Squires Gate Lane, Blackpool FY4 1SN tel: 01253 406300

RECOMMENDATION is often the best form of advertising for a restaurant, but sometimes it doesn’t live up to the billing.
The Lee Raj was mentioned to me by a colleague but I had continually driven past the restaurant and gone elsewhere. My loss.
It sits near the Starr Gate tram stop at the southern terminus of Blackpool’s world-famous trams.
The restaurant is on the corner of an undistinguished street near an extensive housing estate on the way to Blackpool’s busy business park and near the airport.
The external appearance, however, fails to do the restaurant justice. Step through the door are the place is immaculate.
Soft lighting, smartly dressed tables, cutlery discretely wrapped in linen napkins all adds to the overall appearance.
The service is slick but not overbearing and the extensive menu takes some time to digest.
The restaurant, which has been on site for around a decade, serves mainly Bangladeshi food.
And clients come from places as far afield as Manchester on a regular basis.
Read the on-line testimonials, including a Tory who was attending his party conference and made the trip from the North Shore, and visitors who took a tip from a taxi driver, and praise floods out.
Many diners describe it as the best restaurant of its type in Fylde. It is no surprise, with that level of acclaim, that this restaurant has a following.
I asked for advice and eventually plumped for a chicken raj ran hawei after checking regards my lactose deficiency (no dairy).
It arrived with a special sauce but the attentive waiter, without prompt, quickly switched it to another dairy free alternative with around 20 ingredients including mango, chilli and chutney before it reached my table.
The sauce was magnificent and the chicken moist. The accompanying salad could have been spiced up a trifle and, at £4.50, it was a tad expensive, but the dish was an ideal starter.
For main I plumped for a lamb jalfrezi with special fried rice. The lamb was succulent and the sauce packed with merging flavours, none of which dominated.
This dish was priced at £7.10 with rice at £2.60 and I retained some of the sauce from the starter. It proved an ideal accompaniment.
I was too full for a sweet and the bill, with a fresh orange, totalled £15.90. Perfectly acceptable for a quality meal in a well-appointed restaurant.
The Lee Raj is near the promenade and the wind was howling outside. The rain also battered down on the deserted pavements. It was a Sunday night to be by the fireside, but Lee Raj was busy. The restaurant was warm and comfortable.
I sat, however, across from a black plaque on the wall which said: “Your custom with Lee Raj is my fortune, your dining in Lee Raj is due to my ability, your happiness with Lee Raj is my pleasure, your satisfaction with Lee Raj is my desire.”
Pompous, yes. Necessary, no. The food does the talking for this hidden gem.
It stands out among the mediocrity which can be served up in Blackpool and I was well satisfied with my visit.
I’ve subsequently thanked my tip off man and I would have no hesitation in recommending it to others.
However, I might be cutting my own throat as it could then become much busier leaving me out in the cold on my next business trip.