The Tap and Tandoor in Peterborough is one of the newest Indian restaurants to appear in the city. Marketed as an Indian Gastro pub, there is a focus on local produce and suppliers. With a street food style menu and beers from around the world, it is certainly something different to the usual offerings. This independent Indian restaurant opened back in 2019 on the former Carluccio’s site on Cumbergate, Queensgate Shopping Centre, but because of the pandemic I’ve only been able to visit twice.

I have paid for one meal myself and also been invited to dine by the PR company for a review. As Tap & Tandoor has recently reopened its doors having been closed due to lockdown, I felt it best to write this review now. I’ll give you a detailed idea of the menu and also reflect on some of my favourite dishes.

The Restaurant

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The dining area of the restaurant is huge and tables are thankfully spread far apart meaning that during Covid I still felt safe dining here. There isn’t much decoration around the building apart from a mural on the side of one wall paying homage to beers, but I love the olive and teal coloured chairs and benches and chunky solid wood tables. Some of the walls are painted a lovely royal blue and there is also the restaurant logo on one wall.
There are some booth seating areas on the back walls and the tables are set into twos and fours at the moment. You can easily accommodate large parties in here but because of the restrictions they can only accept bookings of six at the moment.

Drinks

The cocktail menu has been compiled by renowned Birmingham mixologist Robert Wood of 18/81 bar. Experience classics such as Manhattan, Old Fashioned & Spritz cocktails with a twist alongside unique cocktail flavours inspired by Indian cuisine.
I chose to go for a Tap & Tandoor signature cocktail, the Green & Saffron. This is one of their own gins infused with rose, cardamom and saffron and served with aromatic tonic water. It was absolutely beautiful to look at and was fresh and floral on the palate. I completely forgot to ask whether I could actually purchase this and I’d love to add it to my collection so will ask next time.

There are also a range of beers on tap, wine by the glass and bottle, soft drinks and hot drinks.

The Tap & Tandoor Menu

Small plates

Chicken Tikka Naan Slider – The first thing I ordered from Tap & Tandoor was the chicken tikka naan slider. It’s a flatbread loaded with onions, coriander, pomegranate, mint, coriander chutney and chicken tikka. This is absolutely delicious and I’ve ordered it both times I’ve been to the restaurant. It’s a really vibrant dish, the chicken is so juicy and the portions are really big. If I were coming for lunch I would probably just have this to be honest. I’m not very ladylike so instead of cutting it up delicately I just rolled it into a wrap and ate it like that. No idea how it should be eaten so I’m going with this! The flavours just come alive in your mouth, the freshness of the mint, the slight spice of the chicken tikka and the tang of the chutney. One of my favourite dishes.

Samosa Chaat – one of my favourite Indian street food dishes. , This is a Samosa layered with chickpeas, yoghurt, tamarind and a mint coriander chutney. It was a really tangy, sweet, crunchy dish, and it’s absolutely delicious.

Amritsari fish – This is like a really posh fish finger, with fillet of fish rather than minced fish and fried to perfection in chaat masala spice. To be honest I would’ve preferred more of the spice to come through as it was a little too delicate but the fish was cooked beautifully.

Homestyle curries

My friend ordered the lamb curry, a North Indian recipe that was really fragrant with large chunks of lamb. It had a nice warming spice throughout and really went well with the chilli cheese naan she ordered.

I ordered the chana masala, a vegan chickpea curry with onion tomato and spices. I didn’t look great but it tasted amazing.

Tandoor Grill

There are loads of different prime cuts of meat within the tandoor section cooked traditionally over charcoal. This time I went for the lamb chops and they were absolutely delicious. I got four lamb chops on the plate with quite a substantial bit of meat on them. The fat was crispy and juicy and the lamb chops were cooked perfectly. I would definitely order this again.

Also on one of my visits I was accidentally given the chicken tikka by mistake and I managed a couple of bites before it was removed. Is the same chicken tikka that is on the naan slider and it was absolutely delicious.

You can also choose salmon, seekh kebab and soya tikka among other things.

Sides

Mogo Chips – The first time I dined at Tap & Tandoor we ordered the mogo chips as neither of us had ever tried them. These are fried cassava, which looks like a mix between ginger and sweet potato before it’s peeled. It’s a mild taste and is slightly nutty. This was paired with a tangy sauce that was really pleasant. However personally I would prefer to go for the masala chips which are normal fries sprinkled with the masala spice mix. I had these the second time I dined and they were really good.

Naan Breads – I had a garlic naan the size of my head and my friend had a chilli cheese naan of the same size. The garlic, chilli and cheese are smothered liberally all over the naan bread meaning you get a taste in every bite. I absolutely love naan bread and these were lovely.

Dessert

On my first visit I also had an apple and cinnamon Samosa for desert. It’s apple and cinnamon wrapped in Filo pastry and served with chai flavoured ice cream. It’s like an Indian version of an apple pie. The sweetness of the apple and cinnamon was absolutely delicious and although a small portion it was definitely enough for my sweet tooth.

Final thoughts

I love the fact that Tap & Tandoor are bringing something so different to Peterborough, having grown up around here I really feel that there’s a lack of cool dining spots in the city. This feels much more like I am dining in Nottingham than Peterborough which is only a good thing!
The staff are really accommodating and very friendly. I’ve been when the restaurant is busy and when it’s quiet and both times the service has been really good. They are attentive but unobtrusive and really friendly. I would recommend Tap & Tandoor and I would also recommend going hungry as the portion sizes are really generous and great value for money!

*One of my visits was paid for by myself, the other was a PR review visit where my meal was complimentary.