Sharod Barkingside: Indian local eat in beloved by locals with no surprises and free Maltesers

21st September
Barkingside is one of those outer London Suburbs, without a London Postcode, that few have visited, as it not on the way to anywhere of note except Essex.
Sharod is a bit of local institution, and I have eaten there several times with family members living around the area. It is a cosy place, and on Saturday night can become so busy that there is a queue for tables. It is debatable whether it is possible to book a table (probably so), but as there is no useful web based information beyond the location and telephone number, it is assumed that it would be a good idea to call ahead.
Service is always friendly, but can be a bit on the slow side. The menu is completely unremarkable, and the pricing is reasonable average: it is very middle of road and unlikely to disappoint.
I had a sheek kebab to start;

I note from the timing on the photograph that it was about 45 minutes from crossing the threshold to serving.

This was sizzling hot (9.5 on CHOF score) and came with lots of onions. The restaurant always has supplied a plate of free popadoms and pickles while waiting, just to take your mind off things. This was very tasty, but the somewhat red colour was a little suspicious.

For main course I was very boring and had the traditional Indian dish of Chicken Tikka Masala.with rice.

This was hot (CHOF of 8.9 but the hot plate did not get it any higher) but very red. It lacked the nutty/coconut flavour that typifies this dish in many Indian restaurants, and was good but not perfect. Quantities of food are good, and my memory dissuaded me from ordering a Naan bread as well, as this would have been a step too far.

The thing about Sharod is that they always give us a postprandial drink e.g. brandy, a handful of sweets and a box of Maltesers or similar to take home. This gift relationship is good business, and people leave with a smile on their faces.

As to the food, it is average in every respect, but never less than average. It can be very noisy on a Saturday night, especially when both full and with a queue inside. On this occasions, there was a table of gentlemen friends on the adjacent table who may have been graduates of Heythrop College (or may not). They had clearly prefaced their visit with some local lubrication, and had lost all sense of what constituted normal conversational volume. May be this is normal in Barkingside, as this place is a local institution with a solid faithful following, because it is reliable. You get no suprises at the Sharod.