Sultan Balti Palace, 7 Market Place, Wokingham, RG40 1AL Phone: 0118 977 4397
Website: sultanpalace.co.uk
FAMILY businesses are ones that we cherish – and one is the Sultan Balti Palace, which is in the heart of Market Place.
It is now in its 17th year, but it runs from a two-storey Tudor building that is so historic it is listed.
In normal times, it seats 20 downstairs and 55 upstairs, and its menu includes lighter meals and snacks for lunches, and a fuller menu that specialises in balti cuisine in the evenings.
For those who have cravings for their favourite food, fear not – the Sultan is still open for collection and deliveries, seven days a week.
It is open from 5pm to 9pm on Sundays to Thursdays, and 5pm to 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays.
The menu is pretty impressive and it’s easy to order from online: we made our requests at 5.30pm and it was delivered to our doorstep an hour later. The whole process was contactless.
An Indian meal should start with pappadums (60p each), which were served with a pickle tray (£1.75). This is always a firm favourite in my house.
For our starters we shared a King Prawn Butterfly (£6.95), Fish Pakora (£4.95), Vegetable Samosa (£2.95) and Chicken Tikka (£4.10). We enjoyed these immensely, especially the fish pakora.
Before launching into our main courses, we had a break – just as if we were in the Wokingham restaurant – giving my husband a chance to savour his Cobra beer (660ml, £4.25).
My husband chose the Bhatti ka Murgh (£7.95), a supreme of chicken cooked lightly with spices, tomatoes and chillis. This was flavoursome and not too spicy and this dish certainly didn’t scrimp on the chicken.
My younger son went for his favourite Butter Chicken (£7.95), pieces of tandoori boneless chicken, mildly spiced cooked in a butter based sauce.
From his silence and the quickness in which this dish was devoured, we can assume that it was very much enjoyed.
Chicken Tikka (£6.95) was the choice of my daughter: Tender pieces of boneless chicken cooked with mild spices – perfect for her pallette and she enjoyed this very much.
My choice was the Chicken Tikka Bhuna (£7.95), grilled chicken pieces cooked in a medium spicy sauce. This was delicious, and every mouthful was savoured.
For side dishes, we chose Bhindi Bhakti (£6.25), a fusion of okra, green peppers, onions and tomatoes. Alongside this we had Chana Masala (£3.95), chickpeas in chana and chat masala, a speciality of the Punjab. This was really tasty, my 12-year-old son said how much he liked it.
The meals were accompanied by enormous Naan Breads (£2.25), chapati (£1.50) and rice (£2.95).
Our takeaway from the Sultan certainly surpassed my expectations.
When lockdown is over, we’re looking forward to visiting the Tudor building to make our own family history here.
