The Independent Food Critic - Roopa Gulati
This homely spot skewers some great kebabs and rolls out the lightest of breads. Sachins' tandoori platter is not to be missed - 5 different kebabs are marinated, meatily juicy and taken to tables straight from the smoky clay tandoor.
Chronicle - Eating Out Review - Gordon Barr
Sachins provides an "alternative" Indian menu to the majority you will find around tyneside. We were served with poppadoms and the usual garnishes to start with - although some of those poppadoms had a heck of a kick to them, so the bottle of Sancerre (a very affordable £19.95) helped cool the mouths a little.
I have never had monkfish in an Indian before so the Machi Tandoori (small pieces of monkfish marinated and barbecued in the tandoor, £7.95) immediately caught my eye. What a treat. The tandoor taste crept through the delicately baked fish and the merging of the tastes was exquisite. Light on the palate, yet so full of flavour, it was delightful. As was the Peshwari Murg Tikka (diced chicken marinated in Punjabi spices and barbecued in the tandoor, £5.95), a wonderful concoction spiced to perfection.
The Murg Jalfrezi (diced chicken cooked in fresh green Punjabi herbs and spices and served with sauce, described as a unique dish of fresh appearance and strong hot flavour, £8.95) certainly got those taste buds going: flavoursome, but with a lighter sauce than perhaps expected. The sweetness of our peshwari nan (£2.25) helped balance the hotness.
My Lal Goshat (a very traditional rich Punjabi hot dish, with diced lamb marinated in yoghurt, red chilies and spices, cooked on a very slow heat, £8.95) was simply the finest lamb I have had at an Indian. While this had a kick to it, it was not overly spiced and I adored the tenderness of the lamb pieces.
We dined at Sachins on Tuesday night and it was bustling. It's easy to see why. Despite the changes made, it has retained that specialness that sets it apart from the masses.
Upfront Magazine
The restaurant has been a favourite of mine for a number of years due to their unique take on delicacies which are very different from what we would normally consider to be Indian food.
Upon arriving, the refurbished restaurant immediately impressed. It really is like no other Indian restaurant I have been to before, full of vibrant colours with a lush, contemporary feel. One of the walls has a large black and white print of a busy Indian city centre, which gives a nod to the culture which spawned the delectable dishes they serve.
The chicken was some of the tenderest meat I have ever tasted and the spices gave a subtle flavor that complemented the chicken superbly. The spices were not overwhelming like a lot of Indian dishes I have tasted at other Indian restaurants. You could really taste each slight difference in the spices making it a treat unlike one I've ever had the pleasure of trying. Karen and I barely spoke while we were eating, other than the odd noise of pleasure which gave us a few funny looks.
Independent review from Geoff Laws
Food Critic - Newcastle Journal
Choices were made, G&Ts were drunk and seats were taken. Our first courses of Seekh kebab, minced lamb barbecued in the tandoor, and Machhi Tandoori, monkfish similarly cooked arrived and we tucked in. The rolls of lamb didn't appeal much to the eye, but the taste and texture more than compensated. The monkfish was in a class of its own. Skewer-cooked, the chef had spiced it just enough to give flavour sizzle without overwhelming the juicy chunks of meaty fish.
The edible silver leaf in the Chingiri Makhani burnished sizable prawns swathed in a creamy, chilli fired sauce. Fresh coriander leaves gave a finishing flourish. My choice of Murgh Makhani meant the spice range of the sauces overlapped, but the chicken breast meat added extra richness and substance. A side dish of Palak Paneer combined glossy, bottle-green spinach, fierce chilli and calming curd cheese in a rollercoaster of tastes. The Kabli Channa was excellent. A tamarind, ginger and tomato sauce coated nutty chickpeas and I could have happily finished it had it not been for the temptation of a huge, puffy Peshwari naan, filled to bursting with ground nuts and fruit.
Some cooling homemade mango and pistachio kulfi underscored the lengths to which Sachins goes to produce good Punjabi cuisine. It takes hours of painstakingly slow stirring and delicate sweetening to make proper kulfi and these were top notch.
Lifestyle magazine
With over 25-years towering at the top of Forth Banks in Newcastle, Jackie Marston spoke to the Sachins team to see what changes have been made to the restaurant recently.
"We have made changes to the internal and external property, but rest assured that the food will be the same as ever. We know that the customers definitely don't want that to change."
The success of Sachins shows no signs of wavering as diner after diner come through the doors to experience what this special restaurant has to offer. The new refurbishment will delight new and old guests alike and is the perfect environment to enjoy authentic Punjabi food, traditionally cooked.
Next time you fancy Indian food, forget the ping of the microwave blasting your supermarket curry to death and get yourself down to Sachins, after all, 25 years of loyal customers can't be wrong! - A word of warning though; make sure you book a table, as thinking you can just walk in and definitely get a table may leave you back at the supermarket queue buying a plastic curry!
North East Times
Using only the finest and freshest ingredients, the restaurant offers such delicacies as Bateer Tandoori, Quails marinated in spices and barbequed in the tandoor and served on a sizzling bed of onions and Chingiri Makhani, a speciality from the tandoor consisting of King Prawns marinated in Punjabi spices, barbecued, tossed in butter and served with sauce and garnished with edible silver leaf. While Dinesh's signature dish - the Jalfrezi will make your mouth water with its use of all the original ingredients but the slight change of the cooking method makes the flavors taste so different.
The menu boasts a splendid array of the most exotic and enticing Punjabi dishes, individually prepared for you by one of the top Punjabi chefs in Britain.
