Following volume 2, which you can catch up on here, I thought volume 3 was long overdue.

Gupshup Lounge, 10 Freer Street, Walsall, WS1 1QD. Reviewed 02/09/26.

I’m so pleased that this is being used again, having spent many nights in here during the Pen & Wig and Tommy’s Bar eras. 

We were greeted warmly and shown to a table and a brief but pleasant discussion about retro gaming broke out with a man I assume to be the owner as he liked my Donkey Kong t-shirt. 

The waitress came over and she was friendly and attentive. She said there would be a delay with the food and did we want some free poppadoms whilst we waited? Naturally it was a resounding yes.

The waitress called me darling more times whilst taking my order than I think I have been called collectively my whole life. I was liking the place already. 

I went for the mixed grill. Standard. Josh went Chicken Kahari. At £10.99 I thought the mixed grill would be at the smaller end of the scale. I was wrong.

We got a second round of free poppadoms which we appreciated.

Fish Pakora was on top. They were delicious and melt in the mouth. I’m normally a slow eater and Josh commented on how quickly I’d polished them off. The whole grill was great. Loved it and Josh really enjoyed his food too.

Music was standard Asian fayre and set the tone nicely. 

We’re not eavesdroppers but couldn’t help overhear the man on table just down from us issuing superlatives like a football pundit. “This food is better than the Soho Tavern and Five Rivers” was one of his offerings. Not sure if he was being serious or just trying to curry favour with the waitress. I suspect both. 

Thoroughly enjoyable visit this. Fantastic food, decent prices, friendly staff and of course great company. A deffo must revisit this.

Roti Pani. Dale House, Bilston Street, Willenhall, WV13 2AW. Reviewed 27/09/26.

This review might be disjointed as my WordPress isn’t working on my pc, so doing it on my phone for the first time.

I need to do more Willenhall reviews so asked my mate John to pick a curry house there and we’d get on it. He made a shortlist of 3 then opted for Roti Pani. A new one on me so I was well up for it.

Unfortunately John couldn’t make it in the end so after a pleasant drink in The Royal George we headed across the road. Gotta be honest, as we approached I thought ‘this isn’t going to be cheap.’ I would be proven to be incorrect, not for the first time in my life.

There was a fire which was pleasant, and the clock was displaying 4 correctly as IV instead of IIII. Good start.

The menus had a wooden binder, which was a first, and the prices were decent. I didn’t minute any of them as I was far too excited.

We had poppadoms whilst we waited for Asps. They were decent, although the sauce pots could have been slightly bigger.

I went for Tandoori chicken starter, aling with chicken tikka massalla with a cheese naan. Maybe I should have gone for a roti given the name of the place, but cheese talks to me and I listen.

Asps went garlic Tandoori mushrooms, Railway Lamb curry and

Josh caused merriment with his order. Desi chicken tikka starter, lamb Rogart Josh (Josh on Josh action) with 3 sides. Asps shot him a look, exclaiming “is that for all of us?” Josh, going forward should be known as The Triangle what with his 3 sides. I’ve not listed his sides as I’m wary of a big word count.

Upon dealing with all of us the waiter said “I’ll go through the order.” I replied “do you mind if I get comfy first? This could take a while.

The starters came and mine was seriously the biggest hors d’oeuvre I’ve ever had. It was lush. Despite the mound of food he had coming Josh polished off the onions underneath my chicken. Good to not waste them. Asps said his mushrooms were “marvellous.”

The waiter had to make two trips to bring all the food out for the mains. Curry was great and I left not one jot. We split the bill £35 each which included a decent tip.

On the way back Josh tried to explain his 3 sides saying it was easier to share 3 sides with 3 people. It kinda made sense but I’m still going to be bringing it up for years to come.