Bite Me

Blue Moon

1 Talbot Road, Northampton, NN1 4HZ, 01604 627861

Our intention was to visit another indian restaurant but as with most good intentions, these often require a level of organisation that fails us, it was fully booked. Standing in the cold debating our options we decided to try the Blue Moon, a small restaurant located on the corner of Talbot Road and Kettering Road. We had been several years before and were impressed with some less common dishes on their menu and although our memories are now somewhat dulled with time, we remembered the food being tasty and good value.

The lack of other diners at 7pm on a Saturday night not long before Christmas could have dampened our spirits, indeed the atmosphere suffered in more ways than staff outnumbering customers three to one.
In terms of decor the restaurant seems very dated and whilst most of the dining room was clean and well maintained, the table across from us was laid out with the Argos catalogue and various newspapers giving an impression that dining in customers were few and far between. The music, (forgive us here as our tastes may be less than mainstream) was an unusual hybrid of Bollywood musical and DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince circa late 1980’s. Not really conducive to a relaxed meal for two.

Previously the restaurant had no alcohol licence so encouraged people to bring their own drinks however they now have a licence and offer a range of reasonably priced wines and beers. When asked for our drinks order, I requested a bottle of Merlot priced at £13.95 and very courteously the waiter asked what my partner would like. Although not beyond the realms of possibility I can down a bottle of red solo, generally I would do so over the course of an evening, rather than the time taken to eat a curry.
Situation calmly dealt with and two glasses provided, we settled down with our popadoms and chutneys that I have to say were much better than those provided at many restaurants. The onion salad was fresh, while the yoghurt dip was thick and creamy, not the watery yellow fare often served. The usual red sauce (a mystery number served everywhere it seems) was surprisingly tangy with sweet and sour flavours.
Our starters arrived, I had ordered the special kebab, a mix of lamb and chicken tikka with a seekh kebab. All were moist and well spiced served with the usual shredded iceberg salad it was pleasant. My partner tried the Bombay Buffalo Wings, once again, nicely spicy with generously sized chicken wings.

The mains arrived accompanied by a seemingly never-ending dance track that I could only guess was called ‘Boom’ as the singer repeatedly broke into a rousing single worded chorus only interrupted by the frequent ring of a telephone for home delivery orders. I had the Lamb Xucati, a medium hot Goan curry, rich with cinnamon, cumin and coconut. The sauce was delicious, spicy and warming with a good kick. I was slightly disappointed by the thin slivers of lamb, tasty as they were I had to search them out from the depths of the sauce and the sauce to meat ratio swamped the tiny meaty morsels. I have tried and failed to describe the presentation of the dish, instead I believe the image speaks for itself.


My partner chose a chicken dish that forgive us, is not on their online menu and neither of us can recall the name. Alas the dish lacked memorable taste also, whilst generous again in quantities of sauce and large chunks of chicken it failed to wow on this occasion.

In conclusion Blue Moon is good value, the meal with starters and drinks came to about £40 and while the food was fresh and well cooked, the restaurant’s ambience and lack of friendly professional service leaves us unlikely to revisit. They do appear to do somewhat better with takeaway orders, the phone rang constantly but with so many Indian restaurants in the area giving great food and service it may be a long while before we try again.