(The Relay Company) – The Marco Polo, Wickford
Another Thursday outing with my mate John while his wife went out with ‘the ladies’, this time we thought we’d try the Marco Polo in Wickford.
It’s literally a minute’s walk from the Blue Chutney, that I’ve reviewed in the past (here), although Blue Chutney looked closed as we drove past.
We parked up and wandered in, warmly welcomed by the waiter.
The décor is plush, tables in alcoves separated by etched glass partitions; rich purple walls and napkins.
The menu has a number of interesting dishes and unusually, we both chose the same dishes – the ‘Marco Polo Roll’ starter, for instance. This was, effectively a king prawn Puri folded into a ‘pancake roll’ and deep fried.
It was both crispy and delicious.
For mains we both went for the ‘Chicken Xacuti’ – supposedly a Goan dish.
I actually visited Goa last October, and will be back this September, but there was little in this dish that evoked southern India. Imagine a spicy Chicken Tikka Masala, with added coconut.
That said, it was delicious, served with Pilau Rice, Bindhi Bhaji and Peshwari Naan; we both cleared our plates and John enjoyed a dessert.
Including a couple of beers, the total bill was a tad under fifty five quid for two. So, including tips, call it thirty quid a head… not excessive, but not cheap.
That said, we’ll be back, it was all delicious.
Rating [5/5]