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LASAN

SOPHISTICATION IMAGINATION TEMPTATION

We recently visited Lasan Restaurant off St. Paul's Square, Birmingham. This is an Indian Restaurant with a difference.
Not the usual cheap and cheerful surroundings and Friday night curry crowd, this is certainly doing it in style!
On entering the restaurant, we were greeted by the welcoming Manager.  We could have lingered in the comfortable and attractive bar/waiting area but decided to go straight in to our table.
The overall word to describe Lasans is stylish but stylish with a simple, contemporary elegance. The layout of the building is interesting as it is situated on three levels - so that despite its size, there is an intimate feel to it.

The stylish but comfortable interior

There is an extensive wine list and the menu offers plenty of choice to suit all tastes. Prices range from £3.50 to £4.95 for starters, with main courses being from £4.95 for some of the vegetarian main courses, to £12.95, with the average dish being about £9 (a refreshing change to see vegetarian options costing considerably less than meat or fish which is always my personal bugbear!
The food was beautifully presented and although based on authentic, classic Indian formulas was prepared with a modern and imaginative approach. 
After much hard decision making, I chose Roti Sag Chana - spinach and chickpea stacked on mini warm chapattis - a very attractively presented and tasty dish, followed by Malabari Black Bream which is pan-fried black bream, spinach, baby aubergines with mild malabari sauce. I rounded off my meal with Mango & Almond Crumble - delicious freshly baked alphonso mango coated with roasted almonds, topped with oat crumble and served with iced apple custard. (I resisted the urge to ask if  I could have a bit of everything as it all sounded so tempting but I did try a spoonful of Robert's Bread and butter pudding which was just as mouthwatering as my choice).  I don't like stodgy traditional English puddings but these were just right - light, tasty and very tempting!
As for Robert's choice, he opted for meat dishes for both his courses, choosing Chicken Tikka garnished with bindi & mango couli for his starter which was excellent in both presentation and taste, followed by Bhuna Gosht - beautifully cooked lamb in rich spicy sauce and of course, the aforementioned Saffron flavoured bread and butter pudding  - don't be fooled by the "school dinners" sound of this as it was amazingly light, tasty and, like the rest of the meal, beautifully presented.
We finished off with a delicious cup of coffee but could have chosen from the extensive range of hot beverages and liquers on offer.
The whole was served by attentive, friendly and efficient staff who did much to make our evening special.
We would certainly recommend Lasan - it's atmosphere makes it ideal for that special evening out and yet its prices would suit almost anyone's budget. We look forward to our next visit - in fact I think we've already chosen what we'll have to eat!
Definately a "five star" rating! In fact, we have tried to balance our opinons by finding something to criticise and really can't.

Authentic cuisine with a modern twist

One slight reservation which we feel we must point out is that there did not appear to be any access for those in wheelchairs and the amount of stairs would make this very difficult - it might be best to enquire before booking.

You can visit Lasan's own excellent website at:- www.lasan.co.uk