Woolton Village is fast becoming a foodie destination to rival other south Liverpool suburbs.
In recent years the village has welcomed independent cafe bars One Percent Forest and Nowhere , along with the popular Crust Pizza .
Turkish restaurant Istanbul is a big favourite with the locals and there’s decent pub grub to be found over in The Elephant, which is owned by celebrity chef Simon Rimmer , as is the swankier Liberty Tavern, just next door.
One place that attracts people who don’t live on Woolton's doorstep is Holdi Restaurant. Describing itself as ‘Liverpool’s finest Indian Restaurant’, the venue has remained firm in the village since it’s glitzy opening back in 2012, while others have come and gone.
Inside, Holdi’s contemporary interior is a world away from traditional curry houses, with plush seating and dramatic lighting that sets the tone.
It’s attracted celebrities including WAG Danielle Lloyd and her fiancé Michael, along with various Hollyoaks stars over the years.
And the good news is, Holdi also does takeaway. The bad news is, you have to collect it yourself.
So on a wet December night, I decided to see if Holdi’s takeaway option lives up to its dine-in experience.
Having checked out the website online, I phoned our order through at 8.40pm. Having been told it would be ready to collect in 30-45 minutes, I arrived (hungry) within half an hour and only had to wait a couple of minutes. They’d even dropped a complimentary bottle of Cobra beer in the bag.
Back home, my husband and I plated up and tucked into our starters of onion bhajis and lamb and peas samosas. They’d also put in a complimentary chutney tray, with pots of diced onions, mango chutney and mint yoghurt.
The bhajis were cooked really well and not greasy at all. The lamb samosas came in a ‘spring roll’ style shape, rather than the traditional triangle, and the pastry was wafer thin, crispy and delicious. The lamb was well seasoned and melted in the mouth.
For the mains we’d chosen the chicken patia curry, which is cooked in a sweet and sour style sauce and the chicken dupiaza, which comes loaded with onions and fresh tomatoes. Both sauces were incredibly rich and the patia had a gorgeous tanginess to it, while the dupiaza was heavily seasoned.
We mopped it up with a tasty garlic naan and a portion of pilau rice, which was slightly on the dry side.
We’d also ordered the tarka dahl, which was loaded with freshly chopped garlic and was a really savoury compliment to the rich curries on our plate.
The portions were so huge that pretty much half of everything went in the fridge afterwards to be heated up the next day. At £25.55 for the whole order, I thought it was good value for money considering we had so much left over.
It’s clear to see why Holdi’s a firm favourite with its customers and if you live within decent driving distance I’d definitely recommend taking advantage of its takeaway menu, which comes at a cheaper price. The curries were £6.35 each compared with £8.95 if you’re dining in and the starters we ordered were a pound cheaper each, compared with what you’d pay eating them in the restaurant.
Definitely worth a treat when you need something to warm you up at this time of year.
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