Coriander: Dee Street, Banchory

ONE of the great joys of a trip up Royal Deeside is deciding where to pick up your take out from to make the perfect end to a good day out.

Banchory is always a fine stopping off point – just 20 minutes from there to Stoney Towers – so we were chuffed to spot Coriander, somewhere we had never tried before.

Super friendly staff – even if a 6.50pm collect turned into 7.05pm in reality – and an interesting menu were both a good start.

Mrs B and I decided to share the mixed kebab starter (£3.95). It was a mix-and-match treat with zingy chicken tikka, lamb tikka and sheek kebab.

The chicken Katmandu (£8.95) was a riot of ginger and lentils and a surprising citrus note, almost as if lemongrass was in the mix somewhere.

It didn’t kick on the chilli front as hard as I would have liked, though, given its billing as “medium strength”. A minor quibble given the richness of the dish.

The chicken Korahi (£8.95) was a tangy, tomato-based affair, chock full of spring onions and coriander. It boasts a special blend of spices, but again light on the chilli front.

Mrs B didn’t mind that, but she would have liked the sauce to be thicker.

With a total bill of £21.95, including rice and naan, this was an all right Saturday night supper.