Kashmiri Aroma, Sheffield

Fish lovers prepare yourself. Sheffield you say? Fish lovers? Indeed, not the obvious place for a fish curry feast but apart from Goa in India I’ve never come across a curry house that serves up so many fish options as Kashmiri Aroma.

So much so that this decidedly nowhere-near-the-sea city (in British terms) has a special fish menu. Ever known that in a curry house? No, me neither. From there came the tasty looking scallops starter. “Huge they are,” said the diners (it sounds better in a Yorkshire accent).

From the sea also came the Dhuan Machli  starter (£4.50), a nice piece of lightly spiced smoked haddock as well as the main Balti Machli Chilli (£9.95), a sort of spicy haddock Jalfriezi that was spiced beautifully and cooked to tender perfection with crunchy green peppers.  If more curry houses could cook fish like this chicken sales would dwindle. Elsewhere on the menu is Halibut Steak (£14.55) a recipe from the Neelam River in Kashmir, Cod Lion (£12.55), Sea Bass (£11.95) from the villages of the Ravi River in the Punjab, and Goan King Prawns (£11.95) for coconut milk lovers. And this is not to even mention a string of other fish/prawn specialities and the old favourites like Prawn Korma (£7.50).

But the menu is extensive so the non-fish lovers around the table had no problem. A mention in dispatches for Chicken Liver Tikka (£3.70) a starter that sounds like it should be as dry as tongue after a heavy night but somehow pulled it off, and Shahi Garana (£8.50) a keema curry mixed in with chunks of chicken and a decent amount of sauce (is it me or does that dry keema thing get a bit too much sometimes?).

The venue (superb and large bar area by the way) has apparently been a pizza place, a Chinese, a whatever whatever eat eat in previous incarnations, but despite being a bit on the high end of the price range for a Sheffield curry house, unless something changes to these exceptional food standards it’s going to be Kashmiri Aroma for a long time.

Kashmiri Aroma, 798 Chesterfield Road, Sheffield, S8 0SF . Tel: 01142 587780. Open: Mon–Thurs 5.30pm-11pm, Fri–Sat 5.30pm-11.30pm, Sun 5.30pm-10.30pm.

Kashmiri Aroma snapshot

Food ① ② ③ ④

Decor ① ② ③ ④

Value ① ② ③ ④

Atmosphere (Saturday night) ① ② ③ ④ ⑤

Service and friendliness ① ② ③ ④