Poppadom Indian Restaurent

"We ate in Poppadom last night as we were close to Puerto del Carmel when the hunger pangs hit. We 'd read the reviews on Trip Advisor already, so expectations were pretty high and we were well pleased with our experience, so happy to add to the thumbs up that previous customers have given it. Finding the place was probably the least enjoyable part of the trip! If it weren 't for Alan 's iPhone I think we would have given up and eaten elsewhere! Anyhow, for any other punters unfamiliar with PDC I will firstly tell you how to find this little gem, using a well known landmark as your guide. If you imagine that you walk out of the big Casino on the waterfront and you turn to your right, you continue to walk along the seafront (the sea on your right until you come to a Mini Golf/Aquarium (again on your right hand side . Opposite this there is a collection of shops and restaurants, with The Dubliner bar being one of the most obvious fronts. To the left of the Dubliner as you enter the complex there is a bar called Friends and another around the corner beside Poppadom called Arthurs . We had 3 starters, 1 main course, 1 basmati rice, 1 side of Tarka Dahl, 1 garlic nan bread, 1 vegetable Biryani, 2 glasses of wine and 2 small still waters and our bill came to under 40 euro. We were even offered a drink on the house at the end and we both enjoyed a vodka caramello, before we left totally satisfied and well pleased with our first trip to Poppadom. It will be the first of many if standards remain as they are at present. And so to the nitty gritty: Venue: Comfortable and offers a choice of indoor or outdoor seating. We opted for outdoors as it was quite a warm evening. This had it 's pros and cons. While there was more fresh air ourside, we did end up playing musical tables to avoid the smokers who were obviously dining outside for a different reason, and as we were quite late eating (about 9.30pm we arrived just as the entertainment in the lounge above started, meaning that there was loud enough music. Fortunately the singer was quite talented so on this occasion it was a bonus! If you were looking for a quiet romantic dinner inside might be a good choice. Staff: Excellent. Attentive and friendly but not to the point of being overbearing. Starters: We had Shami Kebab, Onion Bhaji, and Chicken Tikka. The Shami Kebab (a minced lamb patty was perfectly seasoned and pan fried. There were two patties per portion and these were served with a little salad and a mint sauce that was divine. The onion bhaji (again 2 per portion was lightly crisped, but still a little soft on the inside. Nice sweet flavour to the onions, and again this came with a small salad on the side. The Chicken Tikka was 5 cubes of chicken served a a cast iron dish with sliced onion, and again the meat was lean and succulent and mildly spiced. Mains: We order a Chicken Tikka Dansak, which is a sweet and sour curry with a lentil and tomato base. It was very nice indeed, a decent kick from the sauce and there was plenty of chicken to share in the one dish. Our Vegetable Biryani was nice, a bit run of the mill I suppose but we had selected it as a filler and it served it 's purpose! The side order of Tarka Dahl was reasonably good. I have to admit that I am a bit of a Tarka Dahl connoisseur so I am probably being picky when I say that it wasn 't quite as flavoursome as I would have liked. Our local Indian at home has particularly good Tarka Dahl and my own homemade Dahl is pretty good too (even if I say so myself!! so perhaps I should cut them a little slack on this! The basmati rice was perfect, and the garlic nan bread again was spot on. Could not have been nicer. We did not have desserts or tea/coffee, but our water and wine were lovely. A decent sized glass of white wine (tasty and well chilled was just 2 euro each, which was very good for a restaurant! I will finish by saying that this is the best Indian restaurant that we have found yet in Lanzarote, and it helps that it has the added bonus of being inexpensive! The only down side for us is that it 's in the wrong town! Maybe they will come to Playa Blanca some day when their fame is widespread. So anyone out there looking for great Indian food go straight to Poppadom and Bon Appetit!"