A Taste of India In Benfleet

The Rotary Club of Basildon Concord invited us to its Indian Buffet and fundraising evening at the Maharaja Restaurant, Benfleet.  “An excellent evening with fabulous food including a selection of English food and a flexible arrival time between 7:30 and 8:30 pm” was promised.

Crowded Out

Peter and Wendy Greene represented our club on March 29 to enjoy the hospitality.  Peter reports, “We arrived just after 7.30 pm. but despite the flexible start time, the car park was already almost full – with only one space free.”

In the restaurant there weren’t many diners from the general public, but Rotarians had all arrived before 7.30 pm.
This filled two large rectangular tables with an overflow round table which had three guests on it.  Wendy and Peter joined them.

The event had attracted great interest, with not only Basildon Concord members present, but also DG Jed Brooks, AG Mike Jones, plus Peter Townsend from Rotary Club of Basildon and other members from the Rotary Club of Hadleigh Castle.

Diners Replete

The Indian meal was a buffet, first course was poppadoms together with the usual chutneys, dahl, etc.  Then a plate of hors d’oevres (with one samosa, onion bhaji and chicken tikka per diner).  Drinks were available from the bar.  Main buffet course: Chicken Tikka Marsala and Jalfrezi, two Naan options, three rice options, and a selection of vegetable dishes from which to choose.

Despite the offer of second, third or fourth visits to the buffet, the food was very filling: enough was enough; too full to consider even a second visit. Forget the desserts - (ice cream) and very few coffees were ordered by anyone present.

Second to None

The raffle, organised by secretary Lisa Hambelton, was drawn at the end of the meal, and ….. Peter and Wendy were successful, they won second prize. Chocolate addict Peter rapidly selected a large box of Thornton’s.  A welcome bonus to the visit. (Unfortunately Peter finished them before our Monday meeting so couldn’t share them with members!)

Overall, there were over 20 attendees, all having a very good time, and the raffle raised £318 for the Basildon Community Resource Centre.