Sharing plates, Pelham Street and a £43 saving: our night at Vi-Va Indian Tapas

Seven of us headed into Hockley for dinner at Vi-Va Indian Tapas on Pelham Street, with Claire hosting.

Vi-Va does Indian food as tapas, so instead of everybody ordering their own curry and sitting quietly behind it, the table fills up with small plates and you all get stuck in. Grilled dishes, curries, a few things nobody at the table had tried before, and plenty of passing bowls back and forth. It is a good format for a group, especially a smaller one, because you end up talking about what you are eating rather than just eating it.

The restaurant itself is tucked into one of the better bits of Hockley, and they looked after us amazingly all night. There are vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options across the menu too, which made ordering for the table much easier than it usually is.

Here is the part worth knowing. Vi-Va is owned by PJ, who is an Affinity member himself, and the staff already knew about our 20 percent membership discount before anyone had to mention it. One group worked out they had saved £43 on the bill. As one of them put it afterwards, "We walked in and they already knew about our 20 percent membership discount so we saved £43." Thank you PJ, that was a lovely way to finish the evening.

Seven is a nice size for a dinner. Lots of conversations through of the night, everyone included, nobody stuck at the wrong end of a long table. If you have been thinking about coming to something but a big night out feels like a lot, a meal like this is the easy way in.

Thank you to Claire for hosting and to everyone who came along.

Meeting new people, sharing great moments and creating memories is what these evenings are all about, and Friday had all three, plus a bill that came in lower than expected.

Next up on the food front, we are at The Pudding Pantry for brunch on Saturday 26th September, so if pancakes are more your thing than poppadoms, there are still a few places left.

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