Passage to India in Whitby is a popular Indian restaurant, we couldn’t wait to try their food. Here’s what we thought…
With its ideal town centre location and delicious menu, you certainly get a warm welcome at Passage to India. It’s a great place to try Indian dishes or a mixture of Indian and English dishes. The menu here is carefully put together to entice your senses. We were so excited to try their food for ourselves, here’s what we thought.
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The restaurant…
Whitby is famed for its fish and chips; scampi, crab and cod. Yet there’s a restaurant that is part of the fabric of the town, in much the same way as the Magpie Cafe or the Abbey. It’s hard to imagine a town without an Indian restaurant. What town would be complete without one? Whether you’re seeking an early snack for two, a family meal to celebrate a birthday or after a big feed after a night on the tiles, Passage To India is always there when you need it. We dined on a busy Thursday night after a long drive up from Stafford.
We’d made the journey to come to Whitby to celebrate the summer solstice at Saltwick Bay. Saltwick Bay is a special place to see the sunrise and set into the sea – a rare phenomenon that occurs during the long summer months, just off the North Yorkshire Coast. We took a table in the middle of the main restaurant, admiring the ambient lighting and the subtly Eastern decor. The waiters came to take our order. We hadn’t even looked at the menu. “Can we have a few more minutes, please? We’ll take a couple of mango lassi to drink.”
The Food…
At length, we got to grips with the starters and found that the selection was both extensive and interesting. I’d had a fancy for some fried deliciousness for some days and the choice at the Passage did not disappoint. We ordered the Aloo Bora and Onion Bhajee with a couple of poppadoms to start.
The aloo bora was a magnificent victory for taste and flavour; the creamy mash was perfectly fluffy and complimented well with the hearty spinach goodness; the crispy breaded shell was a joy to munch through – this was exactly what I had in mind – the sort of starter that makes Indian food the cuisine of choice for hungry vegetarians everywhere. The onion bhajee was similarly pleasant and nicely fried. Rather excellent with a little mango chutney and a drizzle of mint raita leftover from the poppadum.
We took a further look at the menu between photographs to order a couple of mains and sides – we’d committed to a veg and fish menu to see how well the chefs knew their way around the kitchen. A good Indian restaurant can knock veg and fish dishes out of the park with the delicate spice combinations available to the experienced chef.
Some short time later we were presented with a King Prawn Suka; a flavoursome feast of a half dozen large butterflied prawns cooked in a tangy sauce; tamarind and honey for that sweet and sour punchiness; a paneer matar with chickpeas, and a couple of breads; a Peshwari naan and a garlic naan. The suka chosen from the speciality menu was excellent; the sweetness of the prawns contrasted with the sour tang of the tomato sauce.
The paneer was presented with chickpeas in a spicy sauce which made a pleasant change from the usual green pea matar paneer dish found elsewhere. This side dish was generously filling and so ended up in a doggy bag along with a couple of triangles of the delicious naan bread. A tasty treat to be enjoyed on the beach the next day. For curry lovers seeking satiation, a temple of spicy delights awaits the intrepid traveller at a Passage to India.
Contact details
Website: www.passagetoindia.org
Great review of the Passage to India – very thorough and detailed. I found some of the photo captions quite funny, for example, ‘a busy Thursday evening’ when you could see just two of 12 seats occupied, and ‘All smiles’ when the waiter pictured was certainly not smiling!!
Hi Peter, thank you for your comments. We were using our creative license here. Our reviews tend to be very early in the evening, before the restaurant gets too busy – we have to take photographs and taste lots of delicious dishes – so we tend to do this during quieter moments. We don’t want to disturb normal operations for the business so we make our visit as unobtrusive as possible. Thursday is typically busy and the waiter, well – he’s just the best, right? We like to have a little fun with our work. Glad that you enjoyed the review. Have you eaten at the Passage?