Barnet - Feb 2013
Date - 26/2/13
Venue - The Shapla, Barnet High Street
Attendees - Me, Malc, Harry, JB, Rick and Roland
Underhill has been a recent happy hunting ground for Southend United and it had been some time since we last suffered a defeat there. Barnet are perennial strugglers in League 2 and this was their last season at this old ground with a slope that almost qualifies as a blue ski run in the Alps. Therefore the opportunity to venture to one of the curry houses in Barnet High Street could not be missed. Last year we had a cracking one at The Shapla (the Chicken Jalfrezi literally had me panting and sweating) and so we thought we'd revisit, this time to get an entry into the blog for posterity.
The usual fairly easy journey was hampered by severe traffic caused by a combination of roadworks and an accident, but we still arrived in good time. Some of our number were already in The Red Lion (one of two sharing that name in the High Street, which can get confusing) and we had to wait for everyone to arrive. We had aimed for a 6:30 meet up at the pub, then a quickie and a short walk of no more than 50 yards or so to the restaurant, but because of the delays (and the fact that the game was an 8:00 kick off) we were lulled into a slightly false sense of security time wise and it was in fact gone 7:00 before we left the pub, leaving us probably only 30-40 minutes to get ordered and fed. Ok, not in the same league as the initial Cheltenham curry (see "The Curry Tasters" narrative) but still a bit of a rush to be comfortable.
Once inside, the waiter didn't really seem to grab our sense of urgency and it took some time and 3 attempts to summon him before we could order. Malc and JB were busy trying to organise the Wembley tickets for Southends upcoming JPT final against Crewe as the drinks and poppadums arrived and then we ordered our main courses. I went for the Jalfrezi again and there was the usual selection of dishes; Baltis, a Madras, a Biryani, some Pilau rice, Onion Bhajis and Naan Breads, vegetable sides, etc., all I have to say served at reasonable speed... eventually! It all looked and smelt good.
The pickles with the poppodums weren't the greatest to be honest and of the commercial variety but the rest of the food was pretty good. My Jalfrezi certainly wasn't as hot as last time but still had a kick and there were no complaints from anyone else either.There were meant to be two Peshwari Naan breads but there was so little flavour they may as well have been plain ones.I have to say it probably wasn't the most relaxed atmosphere to enjoy the meal but we managed and even got in two rounds of drinks.
The big bonus here however was the price; it all came in at £18 per head including tip and that's great value. The Meat Madras was just £3.95 and other dishes were quite a bit lower than we had been used to.
Marks
Exterior - 7
Surroundings - 6
Interior - 7
Toilets - 7
Service - 6
Food Quality - 7
Value - 9
Overall - 7. Definitely worth a return visit with perhaps a little more time.
The match
Our last visit to Underhill was not a happy one. Southend were beaten 2-0 and everyone, the team, the management and the crowd, looked tired. Hardly the springboard for a promotion push!
