The popular Indian chain has just opened its new location after a £400k transformation but I wanted to see if their food was up to scratch…
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00:00 Hi, my name's Sam, Digital Reporter for the Lancashire Post and come with me as I go to try food from Akbar's,
00:08 a popular Indian restaurant chain which has locations across the country and has just opened its new location as the flagship restaurant for Blackburn's cultural quarter.
00:18 So off I went to Akbar's new location in Blackburn which has just had a 400,000 transformation and the inside looked beautiful.
00:28 The decor was vibrant and the atmosphere was really bubbly.
00:32 But whilst the decor was eye-catching, I was here for the food and the menu did not disappoint.
00:38 It featured old school favourites such as kormas and dan saks, two more chef specialities such as more grilled meats and different varieties of curry.
00:51 While I was torn on what to get food-wise, I knew I had to get a water as the meal ahead would be a good test for my spice tolerance.
00:59 So to start, I went for the classic pickle tray which featured two poppadoms as well as four dipping sauces.
01:07 So the four sauces were a mango chutney, a mint yoghurt, a green chilli and some fresh tomatoes.
01:13 Whilst I liked all of them, my standout was the mint yoghurt as it was really refreshing and really complimented that crispy poppadom and was a perfect way to start the meal.
01:23 So appetiser out of the way and onto the starter where I went for the fish pakora which featured four battered seasoned pieces of fish along with a side salad.
01:32 Now I thought this was really nice. I thought the batter on the fish was really crispy and had clearly been seasoned well.
01:38 Side salad, a company needed it. Well, my only gripe was it could have done with a sauce on the side to really elevate the dish.
01:46 But as you can see, it clearly wasn't a big gripe as I completely polished it off and emptied my plate.
01:52 Now onto the main event where I went for the chicken karahi and a garlic naan as well as some pilau rice.
02:00 Now this garlic naan was absolutely huge. As you can see in a minute, I'm going to give some context of how big it was.
02:07 It is genuinely bigger than my head and there was no way I was getting through it.
02:11 But it was really nice, the garlic naan, and really went with the chicken karahi well.
02:16 I thought the chicken karahi was a really nice new curry to me. I've never tried it before but the amount of herbs and spices in there you could really tell and it was a good level of spice for me.
02:27 Yeah, not too overwhelming and accompanied with that garlic naan, it was really flavourful and I'd definitely recommend it.
02:36 Now the pilau rice did come out slightly later than the other two components but I thought the rice was well cooked as well as the chicken.
02:43 I thought the chicken was really nice and succulent and yeah, overall I really enjoyed the chicken karahi.
02:50 As you can see, I made a good effort. I couldn't really get through the rest of that garlic naan.
02:55 So overall, I thought the food was great, the service was impeccable and I'd definitely recommend Akbar's to anyone in Blackburn.