Minster munch

On By Daniel FordIn 2. Reviews (Other UK)Leave a comment

The Raj, York

It’s cold and I need a warming curry. The Raj looks nice. It is. Beautifully designed with bold print wallpaper and smart, carved chairs, the restaurant is set in two levels. The top level is full already despite it being early, so I head down a couple of steps to the lower level (you can still see the diners on the upper level). This level soon fills up too.

The waiters are friendly, especially the one from Goa, who proudly tells me about his home state. The food is good (Sheek Kebab starter at £2.25, Chicken Rogan £4.20, pilau rice £2 and a chapati 70p). I’m warming up.

Ideally for tourists, the restaurant it only a short walk from York Minster. But from the chatter and the accents, this is well-known and used by plenty of locals too. It’s easy to see why.

The Raj, 21/22 Bootham, York, YO30 7BW. Tel: 01904 612017/613366. E-mail: ahmforh@aol.com. Open: daily 6pm-late.

The Raj snapshot

Food 7⃣

Decor 8⃣

Value 8⃣

Atmosphere (early Saturday night) 7⃣

Service and friendliness 8⃣

King of the beach

On By Daniel FordIn 3. Reviews (International)Leave a comment

Paradise (beach shack), Patnem Beach, Goa, India

There are a lot of fish that go by the name of Kingfish. The one you will find in Goa is the Narrow-barred Spanish mackerel. Found in a large area around south-east Asia and the Indian Ocean, this is one of the popular fishes on offer to diners at the casual beach huts. You can, of course, select your fish and get it barbecued, put in the tandoori, or even smoother it in masala sauce. I choose a local favourite, the Goan Fish Fry (Rps 180 or Rps 220 with salad).

It is sliced into neat fillets, with the skin on the fish and a a bone up the middle of each piece. It then coated in spices and dry fried. The coating is crispy but it is so thin that you immediately bite into the firmness of the kingfish without crunching away unnecessarily. Delicious with a bit of lime squeezed on top.

Before...
Before…
…after
…after

* At the time of the visit £1 = Rs 85, $1 = Rs 54.

Paradise (beach shack), Patnem Beach, Goa, India. Open: approx 8am-11pm in season.

Paradise beach shack snapshot

Food 8⃣

Value 8⃣

Service 7⃣

Nice name, shame about the food

On By Daniel FordIn 2. Reviews (Other UK)1 Comment

Jack Spice, Swindon

You’ve got to love the name Jack Spice. Unfortunately not so the food. There was nothing really wrong with it, but there wasn’t much right with it. Plenty of jack, not much spice.

The attractive, cosy little restaurant was buzzing. This appears to be due to the Sunday to Thursday special where you can order paps, starter, a main, a side and rice or nan for £11.95. Everyone around us was making hay. It seems to be such the norm that the (first) waiter didn’t even bother giving us the option of anything else and was somewhat baffled when we turned down the paps (“but they come with your meal” he said, simply assuming we’d go for the special).

Jack Spice is one of those friendly places that thinks you want to meet all the waiters and owners within minutes of arriving, so one by one they all made their way to our table in quick succession, clearly not having a clue what we’d said to the previous waiter. Let’s be kind and say they were just making sure.

Chicken Shally. Sweet and sour dish with chipped potatoes on top
Chicken Shally. Sweet and sour dish with chipped potatoes on top

I wish they’d told us the Chicken Shally (normally £5.50) is not really like a Patia as it says on the menu. A well-cooked sweet and sour dish is always a delight when you get that first rush of sweetness then a kick to follow. It’s certainly not easy to balance such different tastes admittedly, but this was just a medium curry with absolutely no balance of spice. The shally bit, by the way, are fine potato crisps on top of the dish, which works remarkably well.

I can’t remember the other dishes because they all tasted like medium curry as well, although there was some sweetness in the end thanks to the Peshwari nan (£2.50). But by then we didn’t give a jack.

Jack Spice, 61 Fleet Street, Swindon, SN1 1RA. Tel: 01793 488098/613309. E-mail: contact@jackspice.co.uk. Open: daily 5pm-midnight (later on Fri-Sat).

Jack Spice snapshot

Food 4⃣

Decor 6⃣

Value 5⃣

Atmosphere (weekday night) 8⃣

Service and friendliness 5⃣

Mayhem central

On By Daniel FordIn 3. Reviews (International)Leave a comment

Bharat Bar, Baga, Goa, India

Quite why the Bharat Bar is so popular is a bit of a mystery. It sits on a noisy corner between a main road (Baga Road) and the entrance to party world (Tito’s Lane). It’s noisy (toot toot), dusty, and none too clean if we’re being honest. Yet it is decidedly cheap booze-wise and its location is ideal for people watching and catching friends who pass by en route from the beach to the glut of nearby guest houses so it’s always busy.

I’ve never considered it a place to eat (noise, dust, general mayhem with your meal anyone?) although plenty of people do. It can’t be for the Chicken Tikka (Rps 220). The snack was a smallish portion (maybe a tad bigger than you’d get as a starter in an English restaurant), a bit dry, and certainly not worth the dust etc.

* At the time of the visit £1 = Rs 85, $1 = Rs 54.

Bharat Bar, Cnr Baga Road/Tito’s Lane, Goa, India. Open: till late.

Bharat Bar snapshot

Food 4⃣

Decor 1⃣

Value 3⃣

Atmosphere 7⃣

Service and friendliness 7⃣

Old school what?

On By Daniel FordIn 1. Reviews (London)1 Comment

Babur, Forest Hill, SE23 

Two of the diners sitting at our table said the same thing.
“My wife doesn’t normally like Indian food, but she is happy to come here and eat.”

There are two ways to take that comment. The first is that Babur serves excellent food (which is does). It has received many plaudits since it opened in 1985, including being named London’s best Indian restaurant in the Zagat 2013 guide. The second is to why wonder you’d come to an Indian restaurant if you don’t like Indian food.

Pot-Roasted Rabbit
Pot-roasted Mustard Rabbit, a broth with ginger and mustard, served with garlic roti

But like all contemporary Indian restaurants, you’re going to get more than the usual list of old-school favourites at Babur. So you can order Buffalo Lal Maas with steamed rice (£15.25), a dish where the meat is clove smoked and served in a dark Rajasthani sauce. Or you can go for Pickling Spiced Duck Breast (£14.95), which comes with a sweet and sour plum sauce and carrot mash. We are, of course, told the where our food is sourced – Laverstoke Park farm and Gressingham respectively, names sure to bring excited organic squeals from some quarters. We aren’t told where the rabbits come from but the pot-roasted Mustard Rabbit (£14.25) is a broth with delicate tastes of ginger and mustard. It comes with a garlic roti.

Chicken Biryani (£13.95), Chicken Lababdor (£12.95) and Chicken Chettinad (£13.75), the later with a fool’s cap dosa as a quirky lid, are there for those who prefer their ‘curry’ dishes to be more than meat with a sprinkling of spice.

Mixed starter of Chicken Tikka, Lamb Tikka, BeetrootCutlet and Mackrel
Mixed starter of Chicken Tikka, Lamb Tikka, Beetroot Cutlet and mackerel

The starters (as recommended by the waiter ‘for large groups’) was a nice tasting mix of Chicken Tikka (£6.95), Lamb Tikka (£7.95), Beetroot Cutlet (£6.75) and pan-seared mackerel (£7.25), all of which get the thumbs up. And it was the right amount. Unfortunately, buoyed by our large table accepting his offer to choose the starters, the waiter hoisted way too many side and rice dishes on us when it came to the mains. The creamy Dal Makhani (£5.25) was the favourite side dish our up-seller came up with.

Service overall was friendly but a bit casual, which we didn’t expect from a restaurant of this calibre. One of the mains was wrong (“sorry, I can’t read my own writing,” we were told by the same waiter who could clearly read his own writing when it came to the extra sides), although in fairness this problem was fixed pretty quickly. And then the wait for the desserts was sooooo long that the chatty end of the table ended up asking for the bill and ordering taxis because they assumed the few sorbet lovers has eaten already. Your wife might like it but she will clearly have to be patient whether she is a fan of Indian food or not.

Babur, 119 Brockley Rise, Forest Hill, SE23 1JP. Tel: 020 8291 2400. E-mail: mail@babur.info. Open: daily noon-2.30pm (Sun noon-4pm), 6pm-11.30pm.

Babur snapshot

Food 7⃣

Decor 8⃣

Value 5⃣

Atmosphere (Monday night) 6⃣

Service and friendliness 5⃣

Babur Brasserie on Urbanspoon

Pretty in pink

On By Daniel FordIn 3. Reviews (International)1 Comment

Pink Chillies, Goa, India

Pink Chilli is a classy new restaurant situated inside the grounds of Double Tree by Hilton Hotel, a few minutes inland from the popular beach resorts and opposite the site of the Anjuna Saturday night market.

It’s been set up by the team that runs the Karma Café on Baga Beach, so you’ll find the same chilled atmosphere and super friendly welcome, just without the sand. It is one of the few places in Goa that is able to attract everyone – locals, holidaying Indians, Brits and Russians.

The Tandoori Lamb (Rps 400 a head) has to be ordered 48 hours in advance so it can be marinated. And, wow, how it is marinated. A thick tasty coating certainly penetrates the meat deeply after so many hours. Lamb (or sometimes mutton on menus) in Goa usually means goat, although the lamb here is imported from Maharashtra and once went ‘baa’ not ‘nanny’. Most of us curry lovers have seen this ‘order in advance’ dish on menus (it’s sometimes called Lamb Raan, which refers to the actual cut of lamb used) but few of us get round to ordering it. It’s worth it. Never have I seen a group of diners anticipating a meal such as this. From the cooking in the tandoor (cameras at the ready everyone) to the carving of the meat onto the trays, this really was an eating event.

To keep the anticipation to bearable levels, starters such as Chicken Chilli Fry (Rps 120), Prawn Chill Fry (Rps 140) and Masala Papads (popadoms loaded up with chopped onion, tomato, and chillies) provided a good selection to share around.

photo   photo

The couple who own this open-air restaurant – he from near Delhi, she from Liverpool – have created a beautifully styled venue. Pink is used on the walls, the place settings, the napkins and the menus (handmade with crushed paper), although the dark wood of the tables means the colour is not overpowering. Classic Indian posters have been framed and cover the walls, and the smart wooden carved chairs go well with the tables that have been converted from old Singer sewing machine frames. Coming soon, I’m told, will be a Tuk Tuk at the top of the stairs, where people can chill and enjoy a drink (and sure to be a hit among children and photographers). It will, of course, be painted in the restaurant’s trademark bright pink. Beep beep.

* At the time of the visit £1 = Rs 85, $1 = Rs 54.

Pink Chilli, Double Tree by Hilton Hotel, Arpora 403518, Goa, India. Open: daily.

Pink Chilli snapshot

Food 8⃣

Decor 🔟

Value8⃣

Atmosphere 9⃣

Service and friendliness 8⃣

The world’s best curry

On By Daniel FordIn 3. Reviews (International)1 Comment

McCain’s, Goa, India

This is it. This is the best curry I have ever tastest.

From left: Chicken Kolhapuri, Mushroom rice, Vegetable Kolhapuri, nan
From left: Chicken Kolhapuri, Mushroom rice, Vegetable Kolhapuri, roti, washed down with a Kingfisher beer

The narrow-fronted McCain’s can be found wedged between bars and shops in the busy Tito’s Lane in Baga, north Goa. It’s so unassuming it would be easy to miss (one person who’s been visiting the area for years and was staying within metres of McCain’s had never heard of it). It’s a simple fast-food style joint with benches and stools along both walls, while at the back, behind a glass screen, hang skewers of bright red, marinated tandoori, while other staff beaver away over the tawas. It’s always packed.

Service is superb and no matter how full it seems to be a bit of space and seats appear magically as soon as the staff see you enter. Why a swankier restaurant has not snapped up the staff, some of whom have been here a fair while, is a mystery.

Kolhapuri is a dish that comes from the city of Kolhapur to the north of Goa in Maharashtra, so it’s not a local dish, but it’s certainly a favourite in this tiny Indian state. Most recipes include coconut and there is often a giant chilli glistening away in the sauce. It’s a rich, hot and vibrantly coloured dish that is hard to stop eating, even when your stomach has had enough.

The Chicken Kolhapuri (Rs 120) certainly can’t be faulted, with the perfectly cooked chunks of off-the-bone meat, but this is really best as a vegetable dish. People of a certain age would text their friends ‘OMG’ at the first mouthful. As hot as a Vindaloo, as moreish as Tikka Masala, and as fresh as a Balti, the Vegetable Kolhapuri (Rs 100)  is a dish that has it all. Packed with potato, cauliflower, carrots, beans and paneer, I was soon piling up huge spoonfuls of the tasty, onion and tomato gravy onto the Mushroom rice (Rs 100) and tucking in. If you’re a mopper-upper type of eater then rotis come in at Rs 10. Either way, you will eat it and want more.

* At the time of the visit £1 = Rs 85, $1 = Rs 54.

McCain’s Fast Food, Tito’s Lane, Baga, Goa 403 516, India. Tel: +91 9823 196848. Open: till 7am in season.

McCain’s snapshot

Food 🔟

Decor 3⃣

Value 🔟

Atmosphere (late weekday) 7⃣

Service and friendliness 9⃣

Good food, good causes

On By Daniel FordIn Curry NewsLeave a comment

There are a few good reasons to like Green Chillies in Blackheath Road. The staff are always friendly for starters, and the food consistently hits the spot (Green Chillies was highly commended in the takeaway category in the Greenwich Curry Club Awards 2012). But they also care about the community in which they operate. They have been involved with supplying freshly cooked food to homeless people in London for some time and now they are looking to link up with some organisations on their doorstep. Bench Outreach, a Christian charity in Deptford, work with alcoholics, drug users, ex-offenders and homeless people, and many of these could soon be enjoying some tasty Sub-continental meals.

“We hope to be working closely with Bench Outreach to supply hot meals where the need is identified,” said the Green Chillies’ manager Ali Ibn Tawhid. “We are particularly pleased that this is a multi-faith initiative [Green Chillies is a Muslim-run takeaway]. After all, I don’t think someone who is hungry and in need is really going to care about the chef’s religion. We have the knowledge of food – we are thinking healthy biryanis and dhals – and Bench has the on-the-ground knowledge, so we hope this will be a great partnership.”

Meanwhile discussions with the Salvation Army, also in Deptford, have led to an interesting possible link-up beyond supplying food for the needy. The community church has identified a problem with obesity in the area so the Green Chillies staff could soon be providing information and guidance to some of the less privileged families the church works with on how to cook healthy but affordable meals.

Curry to Go

On By Daniel FordIn Curry NewsLeave a comment

Curry to Go is the latest incarnation of the curry takeaway at 106 Blackheath Road (it was previously called Medina). The new owners will be open every day from 5pm-11pm and will be hoping to tempt you with dishes such as Balti Duck Tikka Masalla (£8.50) and King Prawn Jalapeno (£9.50) as well as old-school favourites that start from just £3.95 (vegetable) and £4.45 (chicken). There is free delivery over £12 (within 3.5 km) and a free side dish if your order is over £15 and you collect. Tel: 020 8692 2423.

Load up the table

On By Daniel FordIn 1. Reviews (London)Leave a comment

The Viceroy, Charlton, SE7

Monday nights are always good nights to go out for a curry. There’s nothing much else to do, it gives you something to look forward to during the Monday Blues at work, and best of all you often have the restaurant to yourself. The Greenwich Curry Club has often turned up mob handed at a restaurant on a Monday and enjoyed what’s felt like a private dinner.

Not so in Charlton’s Viceroy where Monday night is banquet night. And half of Charlton seems to know it because the place was bursting at the seams, especially once 17 of us from the GCC turned up. It felt more like a Saturday night than a sleepy Monday.

And here’s why. It costs just £10.95. And for that you get a starter, a main, a side, a rice, a nan bread, ice cream and coffee. You got it, make sure you go hungry.

The Viceroy, 10 The Village, Charlton, SE7 8UD. Tel: 020 8319 3436.

The Viceroy snapshot

Food 7⃣

Decor 5⃣

Value 8⃣

Atmosphere (Monday banquet night) 9⃣

Service and friendliness 7⃣


Viceroy on Urbanspoon