He says...
Five Hot Chillies won out. A journey the other way down the Piccadilly Line was the first of many new experiences, as we passed through hitherto unknown lands with exotic names: Park Royal; Alperton; North Ealing. But none of these were to be our destination – Sudbury Town was our aromatically-spiced goal.
Some ladies might think that an Irish pub on the outskirts of Wembley might be an ignominious place to start their first anniversary celebrations, but Kat is a game old bird who’d never pass up the chance of a new experience. And the chaps at The Swan were a charming bunch who were laissez faire enough to overlook my green duffle coat without comment.
The Chillies sits on the Harrow Road at number eight hundred and something – is The Harrow Road the longest road in London? Does it date back to Roman times? There are probably answers to these questions all over the web, but I would rather leave these questions hanging mysteriously in the air between myself and you, dear reader.They’re a keen bunch though – the Chillies that is. We’d barely got our coats off before the bearded man-mountain of a waiter was clamouring for our order. We sent him away twice before finally coming up with the goods, by which time he had an air of weary resignation.
Sadly the fish was off. ALL the fish. Which, while disappointing at the time, I noted to Kat that this might have been a blessing in disguise, anally speaking.
What we did have was chilli paneer - which is cheese curry. Yes, dad - cheese curry! They don’t do that at your one, do they? And tandoori lamb chops, which were tender, with spices at just the right level. And the BYOB option meant that I remained quietly smug about the price, compared to the originally-booked 5 Pollen Street. Who, by then, must have been wondering if we were EVER going to turn up.
As the two hooded chaps on the next table silently texted each other, our steaming piles of curry arrived: Neheri, which is a delicious stew of lamb shank cooked in ginger; and the slightly less exciting Baingan Bhurta – mashed aubergine in ginger and garlic. These with the requisite boiled rice and nan provided a top rate alternative take on the typical Friday night curry.
As I went to the loo I told Kat to order the dalek, a humorous joke which referred to the shape of kulfi, the chewy Indian ice cream. On my return I found that she had indeed requested a member of the robotic race of Doctor Who aggressors, causing much embarrassment all round, which I had blissfully missed. The pistachio kulfi was indeed a delicious chewy ice cream, but more phallic in appearance than dalek-shaped. And by the way, are there any Indian restaurants in London that serve burfi, the heavy Indian dessert that’s a bit like shortbread? It’s all over the shop in Birmingham.
And so back home, with the promise of The Elephant Man on DVD to finish off this spicy West London extravaganza. ‘I am not an elephant! I am not an animal! I am a human being! I am a man!’
8/10
She says...
We made a decision! Cancelled 5 Pollen Street and got on a tube going the other way, out of town. Heading to a restaurant we really would never have gone to had it not been for this silly blog thing, I finally got my wish of getting off at a station I'd not visited before - Sudbury Town.
A short 20 minute journey on the Piccadilly Line from our West London manor, it's actually a lovely original thirties tube stop with an impressive frontage, old signs and a waiting room! Without tasting any food this was already and adventure worth starting.
On to a nearby pub to soak up the local atmosphere. We'd googled for one close to the restaurant and come up with The Swan - described by some totally unbiased reviewers on
beerintheevening as
'by far the best in the area' and a pub that's got it all
'from superb bar staff/management to great beer garden smoking are out back. 2 big screens...(sic)' yet they forgot to mention the lovely roaring fire, pool tables keeping a group of yoofs happy in the back room and the collection of older beer bellies keeping the other seats in the pub warm. A pub of Irish persuasion it had it's orange and green bunting out ready for St Patrick's Day the following day.
I had decided that I didn't, after all, want to do anything predictably romantic for our anniversary, so - so far so prefect!
Onwards along a deserted Harrow Road further into deepest darkest Wembley the intrepid gourmands trotted. Finally, on a corner of an unassuming suburban street was our destination -
Five Hot Chillies. From reading reviews of this Halal Indian and Pakistani restaurant we were prepared for the cafe style and bright strip lighting, so weren't daunted by first appearances. I'd also come prepared with 2 bottles of wine as we'd ascertained that it doesn't serve alcohol but allows you to BYO. In possibly the only nod to the occasion I'd picked an Australian Shiraz called Lovegrass. Cute, huh.
Friendly attentive staff struggled to leave us alone long enough to choose from their very nicely laid out menu, all shiny and new with enticing descriptions and everything spelt right.
After recovering from the slight drawback of no fish being available due to a delivery failure, we settled on a couple of starters plus a meat and a veg main, rice and naan. One of the starters we both agreed was the star of the show. Inspired by the chap next to us we'd gone for the tandoori lamb chops. Four juicy, just spicy enough, tender cutlets. Very very good. The chilli paneer was also good. The sauce a little too much like tomato ketchup, but the fried cheese had a fantastically firm bite, a texture so much like chicken I had a moment wondering if we'd mis-ordered!
The other meat dish, a main of Nehari, was also really well cooked; very slowly so the meat was incredibly soft and falling of the shank into the spicy gravy. The Baingan Bhurta aubergine dish was a bit bland by comparison, but the boiled rice seemed fresh and came with a large star anise giving a subtle tangy flavour. The plain naan was er... nice and plain.
Then we did something I've never done in an Indian before - had a dessert. After a minor ordering embarrassment we enjoyed a pistachio kalfi and a bowl of cereal. Haha no, of course I mean ras malai - a sweetened ball of paneer cheese swimming in some sort of milk, that was, for our Italian friends, smooth and creamy and uncommonly good.
And it came to £31. Add in £12 for the wine and we'd fed 2 mouths in a relaxing unpretentious place for the price of one in Mayfair's 5 Pollen Street. If you happen to be heading this way this place is definitely worth your time and money, and the quality of the lamb dishes I think almost makes it a destination restaurant for meat lovers. We might even be tempted back to try the fish.
Job done.
Many thanks to my lovely partner in culinary adventures.. hope we can keep this going for many years to come xx
8/10
There are no restaurants with a '6' in their name in the whole of Cheshire and Lancashire. Well, except for a small coffee shop called Number Six, which appears to have just been sold to someone relocating from Guernsey. Amazing what you find out on the old internet. 
The Chillies sits on the Harrow Road at number eight hundred and something – is The Harrow Road the longest road in London? Does it date back to Roman times? There are probably answers to these questions all over the web, but I would rather leave these questions hanging mysteriously in the air between myself and you, dear reader.
As I went to the loo I told Kat to order the dalek, a humorous joke which referred to the shape of kulfi, the chewy Indian ice cream. On my return I found that she had indeed requested a member of the robotic race of Doctor Who aggressors, causing much embarrassment all round, which I had blissfully missed. 
We made a decision! Cancelled 5 Pollen Street and got on a tube going the other way, out of town. Heading to a restaurant we really would never have gone to had it not been for this silly blog thing, I finally got my wish of getting off at a station I'd not visited before - Sudbury Town. 
Friendly attentive staff struggled to leave us alone long enough to choose from their very nicely laid out menu, all shiny and new with enticing descriptions and everything spelt right.
