Simla

The tiny village of Dordon, close to Tamworth, is lucky to have a shining light in its similarly diminutive dining scene. Simla is an Indian restaurant – one of two in the UK – offering a fine dining experience focusing on traditional Indian and fusion cuisine. The a la carte menu is headed by a long seafood selection, followed by tandoori delicacies, a good number of vegetarian options, and many specialties of the house. These dishes are those you’ll be treated to when you reserve a meal at Shimla’s Watling Street restaurant, or when you take advantage of their external catering or function hosting capabilities.

A good way to take the temperature of an Indian restaurant is to turn to the chef’s specialties and see what they’ve chosen to best represent what’s unique about the place. At Simla’s Watling Street restaurant in the village of Dordon, perhaps the best way to get to grips with the long list – Simla is known in the Tamworth region as an expert external caterer, hence the variety on offer – is to try the chef’s taster menu, three different dishes showcasing a range of Indian tastes and techniques brought to bear on your choice of meat, fish, or vegetables.

Getting more specific, Simla’s specialties include some dishes you’re likely not to have encountered elsewhere in the region, meaning many from Tamworth and beyond make their way to this Dordon Indian restaurant to sample the unusual items on offer. The fiery Assam-style zalfreji cooks chicken off the bone with fresh ginger, garlic, green chillies and whole black cumin, while the kitchen moves east with Thai- and Indonesian-inflected dishes like the classic rhendang curry or the ayam Siam, a curious number joining the dots between Thailand and Nepal, would you believe it. Overall, Simla is something of a hidden gem that we’re happy to introduce – all that leaves is for you to make a booking and try it for yourself.