Montaz, Brampton

Something of a surprise for dinner today as for the first time since January I have dinner with the mother, father and sister. Even more surprising than that, we go to an Indian restaurant. For some reason my folks don't go to Indian restaurants, in fact my sister and I reckon the last time we went with them to an Indian restaurant was something like 15 years ago. A looong time ago, so this place, Montaz in Brampton must be good.
It's only upon arriving that I realise that I have been to a Montaz, it's St Ives branch, several times previously and always found it consistently good, so this bodes well.
It's plainly decorated, but full of people, mostly in family groups with a relaxed vibe. Food wise, I have the chef's special, prawns, lamb and chicken in spicy, surprisingly creamy, onion and bell pepper sauce, which frankly is a bit of a random combination. It's tasty, but perhaps would benefit from a focus on one meat. Dad had the seabass which was a good light alternative to some of the more stodgy fayre typical of Indian restaurants. Mum had Mala king prawns, which had a tomatoey, spicy pineapple sauce which was on the sweet side for our tastes. However, the best of all was my sister's lamb shank, cooked slowly until the meat was falling off the bone with a spicy chickpea based sauce with a moderate chilli hotness aftertaste, a pleasing alternative to the typical European style of a red wine sauce with potato mash. As with most curry houses the desserts were not really worth having. I had a Funky Pie; James Brown would not have approved. However, if the Godfather of Soul was partial to a curry, I'm sure he'd like what they do here cooking European staples like lamb shanks and seabass fillets in sub-continental styles at a reasonable prices, you'll get change from £15 for a main dish with rice and a vegetable side. Definitely worth going again.