I visited an Indian restaurant in Kidderminster and enjoyed a near perfect dining experience

There are, after all, scores of Indian and Bangladeshi restaurants plying their trade and offering great quality, authentic food at prices that would more than cover the fuel.

And yet Wall 2 Wall, an Indian street eatery and cocktail bar in Kidderminster, is so well conceived and so well executed that it becomes worth the trip.

It’s near to one of the West Midlands’s many lounge bars, which are part of one of Britain’s most successful chains of the past decade. The Tappeto Lounge, like its stablemates, offer comforting, unfussy food at affordable prices in a comfortable space that’s conducive to good times. Little wonder they’ve sprouted like autumn mushrooms, with a vast number around the UK.

The relevance of that to Wall 2 Wall is blindingly obvious. While the latter presently has just two branches – one in Kidderminster and one in nearby Stourport – the concept is so damn good that it would be no surprise were it to go on to replicate the giant-sized success of the Lounge.

And here’s why. The idea behind Wall 2 Wall is deeply, deeply impressive. Rather than the old-school flock wallpaper that once dominated many Indian and Bangladeshi restaurants, or rather than the gaudy lights and cheap leather seats that do at present, Wall 2 Wall rips up that formula and makes eating Indian food fun.

It’s a riot of colour, as though the interior designer were on an acid trip at the colour printing plant. There are nooks and crannies in which couples, mates, or families can snuggle up to eat. There are good vibes – who doesn’t want to eat in the gastronomic equivalent of a kaleidoscope – and both service and food are exceptional. Oh yes, and it’s incredibly good value.

If decent restaurants are made up of the environment, the food, the service, and the value for money, so many are successful in just one or two of those four defining criteria. Wall 2 Wall, in contrast, gets it right for the lot.

The environment is exceptional. Located near to a riverside in built-up part of Kidderminster, it is unlikely to win any beauty prizes for best location in the region.

And yet step inside and it’s like being in another world. Guests are instantly transported to bazaars and fetes as the colours come to life.

The bar, the walls, the tables – all are enveloped in a colourful, joyful palette that is playful, vivid, and bright.

And then there’s the service. The two staff who were working when I called in for a quiet dinner on a Tuesday were both exceptional.

A young woman was engaged and eager to please, a young man was equally dutiful, making sure that I – and other guests – were enjoying the food we’d ordered, and were being made to feel welcome. Win win. Good service makes such a difference.

In an age where we all have to deal with the drudgery of faceless, really-don’t-care banks, council officers who are disinterested in our enquiries, or companies that fake interest and make things worse than they were before you called, it’s a blessed relief to eat in a restaurant where the staff make the effort.

And make the effort they did. Having walked in without a booking, I was given a good table by the window and orders were quickly taken – with both staff coming over within a minute of me sitting down.

That attentiveness continued throughout the evening as the team proved eager to please.

The menu at Wall 2 Wall is a little bit woo-woo. It’s wonky and weird, unusual and unexpected – and, just as Lounges nail it with global flavours at affordable prices – so does Wall 2 Wall. It’s a fusion of Indian food with Chinese influences, though there are other flavours too, notably Italian. It really ought not to work, but, like the stuff we sometimes eat at home, it somehow works.

So there’s a wide range of starters, or tapas, that combine Indian and Chinese – like chicken lollipops in either Szechuan sauce or mango chutney. I opted for the tempura calamari, with Indian masala, that was served with spring onion, Indian may, and a lemon wedge.

It was stunning. The squid had been cooked with considerable skill so the tempura was fabulously crisp, the hint of spice added warmth, and the squid was tender, broke apart easily, and offered all of the flavours of the sea. It was stunning. I’ve raced ahead in my enthusiasm, of course, and omitted the poppadom course with mint, mango, and tomato chutneys. They, too, were exceptional – particularly the chutneys.

Dips are all too often a let-down in Indian restaurants, featuring wan yoghurt, gloopy, over-sweetened mango syrup, or worse. Cheap ingredients, mass produced in nondescript factories, and dispatched in large vats, are passed off as being authentic when they’re about as close to the original as the M40 is to a Roman road.

The Wall 2 Wall selection, in contrast, was entirely on point. The mint chutney was packed with aromatic flavour, the tomato variant had a wonderful heat, while the mango was sweet but not-too-sweet.

My main was spectacular. A chicken jalfrezi featured tender chunks of tandoori chicken in a tomato-based sauce of onions, and peppers. It was spiced with slit chillies and served with fluffy, deliciously-cooked rice. It was magnificent.

Offering hints of sweetness to balance out the warmth, the sauce was more-ish and sophisticated. The onions and peppers were fresh, and offered great texture while the chicken was just right. It was a fabulous dish, one without fault, and so, so much better than most of us find in restaurants offering similar dishes.

Having been dazzled by the interior, the concept, the menu, the value for money, service, and food that was exceptional, it would be churlish to offer anything less than the full marks. Wall 2 Wall is fully deserving of it’s five out of five.

Sample Menu

Sides

Grilled chicken tikka salad £6.00

Chips with cheese £3.99

Poppadoms and chutney £2.49

Mains

Balti with lamb £11.50

Butter chicken £10.99

Kerala fish curry £11.99

Light Bites and Tapas

Punjabi roll £7.99

Bombay burger £7.99

Loaded naan £10.99