I had heard from friends about Altrincham’s Balchão restaurant who had highly recommended their contemporary and innovative take on Indian cuisine — the restaurant was always on my list of restaurants to visit.
Balchão describe their food as “contemporary cuisine” which “utilises a combination of cooking styles and techniques from across the world”. As we were in The Hale Barns area it seemed only right to experience the restaurant myself to see if all the good reports were justified, thankfully they were, as you will discover.
First impressions were good — the restaurant had a very contemporary feel; sympathetic colours, an open kitchen and seats that ergonomically are perfect so that you are not sitting too low down in relation to the table. This was not what I was expecting and came as a pleasant surprise.
All the food is fresh and cooked to order — you might have to wait a while for your meal to arrive on the table — let me assure you, the wait will be worthwhile. You will find that the menu has a lot of dishes that you might not have seen before which makes a visit to Balchão almost unique — this is no ordinary Indian restaurant.
The menu
Operations Director Nitya Pathak has skilfully designed an exciting menu created with healthy and fresh food choices that will send your tastebuds buzzing with delight.
There is an extensive cocktail and mocktail list along with a good wine selection, my mocktail — the Balchão special (£6.50) was a mixture of coconut syrup, raspberry syrup and lime juice which was very refreshing. Perfect for a summer day.
My starter of gilafi seekh kebab (£8.50) came chargrilled and was succulent and with just rightly seasoned. My partner chose the apollo fish (£8.50) which was described as very spicy.
My main of chicken talma (£17.50) is one of Balchão’s signature dishes. A perfect combination of chicken breast coated in homemade aromatic masala spice and stuffed with mince chicken and cheddar cheese, though I must admit I could not actually taste the cheese.
My partners choice of chicken saag (£12.50) was later recounted as being one of the best Indian dishes she had eaten — and that is from someone from Bradford! The chicken was so tender and was served with rice cooked to perfection.
If you have room left after all this extravagance, they have a plentiful dessert menu. I would recommend the raspberry white chocolate brûlée whilst my partner’s key lime pie (both £5.75) complimented the earlier hotter dishes.
Service was excellent from start to finish. We seemed to be in the hands of people who wanted to make us happy — and they did. We will definitely make a return visit.
