Naan and Grill

Naan and Grill is an Indian restaurant in Haslemere, and it does the two jobs a neighbourhood Indian is usually asked to do: feed people properly in the dining room, and feed them properly at home. It is listed as good for both eating in and takeaway, which tells you something about how it is used locally. Places that manage both tend to be judged on consistency rather than occasion.

The ££ band puts it in the middle. Not a cheap counter operation, not a special-occasion outlay. It is the price level most people are working with when they decide on a Tuesday afternoon that nobody is cooking tonight. A reader weighing up where to go should read ££ here as ordinary-week money for a sit-down meal with a couple of dishes and rice between two, rather than a bill that needs justifying.

The kitchen covers traditional ground — tandoori specialities and rich curries are the two areas flagged in what is known about the place. That is a familiar shape for an Indian restaurant in a Surrey town, and there is no shame in it. The reputation locally rests on generous portions and friendly service, which are unglamorous virtues but the ones that actually determine whether people come back. If you are ordering for a group, the portion size is worth factoring in; over-ordering is the usual mistake.

Who it suits: a weeknight dinner with family, a straightforward meal out with friends, or a takeaway when the alternative is a supermarket. It is less obviously a business lunch or a landmark-birthday restaurant, though that is a judgement about category rather than a criticism of the food. For a long Sunday or a celebration you might want to ring ahead and ask what they can do for a larger table.

Before you book, two practical points. The listing gives Haslemere as the location without a street address, so check the exact location and confirm opening times directly — particularly if you are driving in from outside the town, and particularly for takeaway collection, where hours can differ from table service. Menus at restaurants of this kind change from time to time; if there is a specific dish you are travelling for, call and ask.

Haslemere is a town with a modest number of places to eat, which means a competent, well-liked Indian restaurant carries more weight than it would in a larger centre. Naan and Grill appears to occupy that position: the reliable local option, used often rather than saved up for.