Le Raaj Fine Indian Cuisine near Durham

I was craving freshly made naan bread from the tandoor oven for weeks. Not just any naan bread but a keema naan, fluffy and light, baked to perfection just seconds become being served. My opportunity came when the hotel we stayed  in had an Indian restaurant just across the parking lot.

This is not just any restaurant but a family run, award winning restaurant in Sedgefield (images below) near Durham. It is one of two restaurants with the same name, Le Raaj by the same family. The other one is in Chester Moor. Back to Le Raaj in Sedgefield, the interior is modern and airy with its soft furnishing in light tones and clean lines. There is a modern reception and seating area, bar and different spaces including an open plan space that can accommodate a big party. 

How was the food

We tried a couple of new dishes namely the Thali Gosht and Lamb Hara Masala. Here is a list of what we ordered with more details to below.

What we ordered:

Starters

• Papadoms
• Trio of Chutneys

Mains

• Thali Gosht
• Lamb Hara Masala

Sides

• Bindi Bhaji

Sundries

• Keema Naan
• Peshwari Naan
• Pilau Rice

Thali Gosht

A modern take on a Thali, there are two Thalis on offer, Thali Gosht and Thali Tandoori. Traditionally, Thalis are served in a big round serving platter carrying a selection of various dishes including pickled vegetables, lentil curry, chutney, raita, sundries (usually bread, rice and papadum) and even some sweets.

The Thali Gosht is served with three different curries; chicken tikka masala, lamb bhuna and murgh jalfrezi from mild to hot in heat level respectively. This is accompanied by pilau rice and keema naan. The curries and rice are served on a flat dish (image below) with the keema naan on a separate dish. 

Click on the thumbnails below for a closer look at the curries and accompaniment.

The Thali Tandoori on the other hand is a mix of three different 4 different meat and fish from the tandoori oven plus one curry. These are sheek kebab, tandoori king prawn, chicken tikka, lamb tikka and chicken tikka masala (mild curry). These are accompanied by pilau rice and tikka naan.

Lamb Hara Masala

Our first taste of the curry, we were pleasantly surprised by how good it tasted and how big the portion is. The Lamb Hara Masala comes with tender lamb pieces served with fresh, fragrant green masala sauce. What’s in the sauce? It is made with fresh coriander, mint and green chillies and flavoured with fenugreek, lime and pomegranate. We felt the lime was a little overpowering but worked well with the coriander and mint. As for the heat leave, this is a medium hot curry to be enjoyed with rice and naan bread.

To go with the Lamb Hara Masala curry, we ordered Peshwari Naan, naan bread filled with grated or desiccated coconut, raisins and almonds and pilau rice.

Popadoms

Bigger than usual, these crispy treats are sometimes taken in place of actual starters. Although most people would have this while waiting for their starters, working their ways through a pre-starter (Popadoms), starter, main course with side and sundries and dessert. We were a little thrown by the mixed chutney. The one thing missing is lime pickle. In its place a brown tamarind sauce, on top of the red (normally yellow) mango chutney, soothing mint but in slightly yellow not minty green colour and chopped onion with herbs.

The Takeaway – Chicken Biryani and Cheese Naan

It was so good that we decided to have Indian again the following night. This time, we ordered a take away to have in our room. It was because we had late lunch and was too full to order a main course each if we were to dine in the restaurant. If you were wondering, that would be our self imposed minimum order per person for seat in.

I placed the order over the phone and the food was ready for collection in 30 minutes. We ordered Chicken Biryani and Cheese Naan to share and was pleasantly surprised that they give a 20% discount for takeaways.

The food was great again as expected. The chicken in the Chicken Biryani was thoroughly marinated, properly spiced, really tasty and wasn’t too dry. The rice had plenty of flavour cooked with a mix of spices, herbs, flavoured nuts and sultanas. It was accompanied by a generous portion of vegetable curry prepared with mixed vegetables that worked together like chopped onion, broccoli and fine beans. 

Would we go back again, the answer is a resounding yes. If we are visiting Durham again, we would make the effort to dine there. It is definitely worth the journey and thoroughly recommend the place.

Date Visited: 17 and 18 June 2023