Rivage - well worth a visit

First time there was Saturday 14th Feb 2009. As it was valentines night, we were greeted with a glass of sparkling wine with a strawberry in it. Nice touch. We were shown to our table and that's when we started to take in the surroundings. The tables and chairs were solid, dark wood...comfortable enough. The main restaurant was close to being full, with more people through in the back area. The decor was modern and minimalistic. Certainly not typical decor for an Indian restaurant, but pleasant. The lighting was a bit harsh, so could do with being toned down a little, for a more relaxed and ambient atmosphere. However, the food was quite outstanding. The menu was extensive, with lots of unusual dishes that again weren't typical of an Indian restaurant. It was quite hard to choose one dish as so many sounded delicious. We settled for a pea and potato pattie, scallops, followed by the goan green chicken curry and sagh gosht. Decided scallops weren't very indian, but the rest tasted wonderful. We also had a side dish of pea and mushrooms...highly recommended! The pulao rice was also very tasty in its own right and not multicoloured like in some restaurants. The service was good, although not overly speedy, but that wasn't an issue, as each dish was worth waiting for. We were also pleasantly surprised by a starter of a square of fried bread, turmeric or saffron enhanced, served with 3 different pickles. Never had anything like it but it was very tasty. No signs of disappointment from any of the other clients. We were certainly delighted and are going back on the 26th of Feb to try some different dishes. Give it a go! Oh and they allow you to take your own wine in...no corkage as yet, so that's another plus.

A User - 05/02/2009 | report this review