Baisaki Festival at MaCh Restaurant - 13th April 2008
by Claire


Some of you may know that we have a bit of a passion for Bollywood/ Indian / Bhangra dancing, to complement the "slight" obsession that we have with belly. Other than watching Bollywood DVD's, or finding the odd Indian dance thing at the drill hall, this style seldom pops up in our area…. or so we thought….

We have visited MaCh restaurant (situated on Greetwell Road, Lincoln) many times since it opened, enjoyed a few meals and celebrations and ordered from their takeaway too. The food is divine Indian Cuisine, flavorful and beautifully presented and the contempary décor is stylish and simple (Far from the "flock wallpaper in some Indians restaurants). When we received an email a few weeks ago advertising their Baisakhi Festival feast with Bhangra dancing and live drumming I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.

Baisakhi is an ancient harvest festival in the Punjab. This is an annual celebration which commemorates the birth of Sikhism; it is usually a loud, colourful celebration and is accompanied with a feast.

Keeping with the tradition MaCh served an appetizing menu with a Punjabi influence and hosted live Bhangra dancers and Dhol players (Indian percussion).  Two Drummers and two dancers put on an energetic performance in three slots throughout the evening. Although we spotted many a move, there was lots of variety to keep us watching.

At the end of the third set, they invited members of the audience to participate and join them on the floor for a few moves…A few diners were "volunteered", and of course there was us, who had to have our arms twisted…. Well, it would have been rude not to! Having abandoned my shoes and after a few glasses of wine we joined in dancing to the live drumming. By the end Barbara was "networking" with the dancers!

An excellent evening at a reasonable price. Lets hope this is an annual festival for Lincoln and more of the same please from MaCh!

(Editor's note: MaCh is situated in North Greetwell next to the petrol station on the A158 Skegness road about a mile outside Lincoln.  Address: MaCh Restaurant, Wragby Road East, North Greetwell, Lincoln, LN2 4RA Tel: 01522 75 44 88.  Web site: http://www.machrestaurant.co.uk.      Map