It’s been a while now but for those who don’t know, the Taste of India has closed. I always liked the place, especially the lunch buffet, which gave a good opportunity to taste a few dishes in one sitting. But, it seems, central Greenwich, unlike the rest of the country, seems incapable of sustaining more than one curry house in the same street. Only one thing for it… eat more curry you lot.
Tag: Indian restaurant
Where’s the sizzle?
River Spice, Brighton
Empty restaurants tend to turn people off, yet in this busy street of smart bars and eating places (a fair few curry houses), River Spice was buzzing so it must have something going for it.
I’m always a sucker for a fresh-smelling sizzling dish. It’s the theatre. So when a very tasty tandoori (no false colour added) arrived at the next table, I was hooked.
‘That’s the Mixed Grill’, (£10.95) the passing waiter told me when pressed, although he looked a little uncertain. But when the Mixed Grill (Tandoori Chicken, Chicken Tikka, Lamb Tikka and Seekh Kebab) arrived the sizzle had mysteriously disapeared (in all senses).
It wasn’t the same dish the neighbouring table was enjoying (more likely it was Chicken Shashlik, £7.50) and it wasn’t sizzling. Look, if it’s theatre you’re after at the table then it’s theatre you should get.
Still, the replacement Punch and Judy show looked okay. Er… sadly not. A Mixed Grill of (really) tough lamb and over-cooked chicken; just why was this place busy? Had the chef who won the 2010 Curry Chef of the Year Award from Brighton & Hove City Council moved on? The saving grace of the dish was the beautifully spiced Seekh Kebab. Very tasty.
The Chicken Tikka Chilli Masala (£7.50) redeemd things to some degree with its eye-watering chilli kick, although if you skirted the fresh chillis, the sauce was surprisingly tomato-based bland.
Maybe I just had the hump at this stage. Which was not helped by the Papadum Tax either. A whopping £3.60 for four paps indeed, thanks to 60p per papadum and £1.20 for the chutneys. I kid you not.
River Spice, 17 Preston Street, Brighton, BN1 2HN. Tel: 01273 739 183. Open: lunch daily except Friday, and daily 6pm-11pm.
River Spice snapshot
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Spice on the beach
Karma Café, Goa, India
Although it’s not a Goan dish, Chicken Kolhapuri is found in many of the restaurants in the region. One of the best places to enjoy this spicy dish is in the super chilled beach bar, Karma Café.
Karma is run by the energetic owner Baba who’ll be seen doing everything from ferrying fresh fish from the market, serving beers, cooking food and fixing the pool table between spells of popping down to the beach to chat to his wife and little boy.
Kolhapuri is named after the town Kolhapur, which is to the north of Goa in Maharashtra. It’s about as hot as Goa’s most famous dish, vindaloo, but dare I say it, has more flavour, somehow combining burn-in-the-mouth fire with great taste at the same time. It’s addictive and should, of course, be washed down with a cold Kingfisher. Or three.
Watching it being cooked in the small kitchen out back is mesmerizing. Cooked in a pan heated to the limit over an open flame, the chef tosses in ingredients – onions, garlic, ginger, spices and chicken in turn, with the wild sizzle from the pan only being doused briefly when he adds a spoon of sauce from giant pot of masala sauce on the side. At the same time the chef uses a pot of steaming oil to cook popadoms fresh in seconds, the flat disk recoiling into its familiar post-cooked shape of curls and twists almost instantly.
Of course, it tasted better because I had watched it being cooked, but back at the table of this open-air restaurant, with my feet wiggled firmly into the sand floor and watching the moon bounce off the Arabian sea out front, it would be impossible not to get a kick from this dish.
Karma Café, Baga Beach, Goa, India. Open: about 10am–midnight (sometimes later) in season (October to April).
Karma Café snapshot
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Nothing like the real thing baby…
Jamies, Goa, India
Jamies is an oasis in the madness of Baga Road. When you’ve had enough of endless tooting horns (nobody seems to realise they are meaningless when used so often), hawkers, and dirt and grime of this vibrant road, pop into Jamies, without doubt one of the best restaurants in the area.
A beautiful restaurant, nicely designed and well laid so every table has plenty of space to breathe (you need it occasionally in India), this is relaxed outdoor eating at its best.
The restaurant specialises in barbeque and tandoor cooking so not everything is ‘Indian’ but the tasty Tarkari Jalfriezi (Rs 195) was hot and spicy and if anyone can find a more tender, tasty Murgh Tikka (Rs 195) than this place does then I want to know about it. Mop it all up with freshly cooked rotis (Rs 25 each) and Kingfishers.
* At the time of the visit £1 = Rs 70, $1 = Rs 45.
Jamies, 7/188 Sauntavaddo, Baga Main Road, Goa, India. Tel: 00 91 976 4362 379/976 4364 377.
Jamies snapshot
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1926 and counting
Veeraswamy, Regent Street, London
It’s not often (make that never) the GCC has to book a table for its monthly curry. But, hey, it’s Christmas (almost), so a month’s notice was in order (and even then we had to change nights). But it was worth it to try the oldest curry house in the country.
Veeraswamy has been around since 1926 and they don’t mind reminding you of the fact on everything you see in the place, from menus to wine lists and more, so much so you’d think the place is actually called Veeraswamy 1926. But who can blame them? Because although this wasn’t the first Indian to open in England (that’s said to be the Hindoostane Coffee House, 1810), it’s the oldest surviving one, and that’s some achievement.
‘Not exactly the _ _ _ _ [insert name of any local curry house] is it?’ exclaimed the GCC members at first sight of the décor, with the array of turbans lining the walls, the gold screens and the mellow lighting (no flash photography in here please).
Prices are double a decent curry elsewhere and treble a cheap and cheerful one down your local, but you don’t come to Veeraswamy to save money.
Crab kebab (£11.50), Duck kebab (£10), both served on banana leaf, and very plump Scallop Moilee (£11.50) got the ball rolling for starters along with a round of Cobras (£5.85 each).
But the best was yet to come. Huge portions of Raan Akbari (lamb shanks) and Hyderbad Lamb Biryani (both at £23) set the tone with super soft and tasty lamb, spiced to perfection, clearly with delicious and fresh whole spices. The latter is said to have been on the menu back when they kicked off in 1926 so they’ve clearly had some time to perfect it. Which they have.
The Chingri Malai (£23) also didn’t disappoint when it came to huge plump prawns in its creamy sauce. No fiddling around looking for shrimps in this dish. Ideal for dipping the Tandoori Roti (£6.70) into. Heaven knows, the GCC knows a few things about Indian food, but it’s not often they rave about a roti like they did here.
Gosht Hara Salan (£23) and soft, soft Saag (£7) cooked with tasty, tiny chunks of crunchy onion, ensured there was plenty of green on the table, while a Murgh Makhani (£17) delivered a sense of normality to proceedings.
The Nectarine Tandoori (£6.75) soon put paid to any thoughts of normal though. Whoever thought up this slightly caramelised dish, well done to you. Tandoori Nectarine indeed.
But like the place, it has to be tried by every curry lover.
Veeraswamy, Victory House, 99 Regent Street, London, W1B 4RS (entrance on Swallow Street). Tel: 020 7734 1401.
Veeraswamy snapshot
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Eating on the dock of the bay
Memsaheb on Thames, Docklands
Let’s be honest, the walk from Crossharbour Station to the river is unlikely to feature in ‘Beautiful Walks of London Volume I’. And the fly tipper who happily reversed down the alleyway and dumped his rubbish in front of us without a care in the world has hardly helped.
But there, right on the Thames is a gem of an Indian, with comfortable decor (love the big blue seats), friendly staff and good food. So good in fact that the Bangladeshi Caterers Association recently named the restaurant as one of its 11 regional winners in its annual Caterer of the Year Award. It was named as best restaurant in Greater London (East).
Ian declares he has cycled past many times and been meaning to try it out. Well, now you’re here, what are you going to order?
Tandoori Lamb Chops (£8.95) it is, sizzling away with tasty onions and green peppers. A plate of this lamb was devoured on a previous visit and it lives up to expectations again. Top notch.
Meanwhile the newest (and our second French) member of the GCC plumps for a King Prawn Biryani (£10.95) although from the size of the prawns the king must be from a really small country. You know, one of those countries you can never remember the name of and is wedged in the mountains between two bigger countries.
But it’s a decent biryani and a welcome choice because it’s a dish that’s often overlooked in restaurants. I suppose because it’s rice based and because rice doesn’t have the sexiest of reputations it usually gets shoved out in favour of something hot or something tikka masala-ish.
I was converted to biryani years ago on a trip to Mumbai, when just hours after landing and while still coming to terms with the time difference, tiredness and the attack on the senses that is India, our host brought out a huge biryani. It was three in the morning and it was one of the best things I had ever tasted.
The key to a good biryani is when you know all the different tastes from the rice, the vegetables, meat and spices have been fused together in the cooking process. Too many restaurants, for speed, seem to just mix the ingredients together at the end. But the Biryani Inspectors will get them in the end.
And hang on, is that broccoli (£3.25) on the table again? Only last month we were surprised to see it on a menu and here it is again. Have the chefs just discovered it or haven’t I been paying attention at the back of class?
The Crab Puri (£4.50) and Tuna Kebab (£4.50), the latter served as plump fish cakes, were interesting and unusual starters, while the Garlic Chilli Chicken (£7.95) is a must for garlic lovers.
Sadly the Kitchen Curry, which is something the chef cooks for the staff and is ‘usually hot’ was sold out. But that’s fine as it gives us an excuse to come again.
Memsaheb, 65-67 Amsterdam Road, Docklands, E14 3UU. Tel: 020 7538 3008.
Memsaheb snapshot
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A Lamb Dubby and other new dishes
Taste of Raj, Blackheath
It’s a sleepy late summer Tuesday and we’re in the middle of the recession. Blackheath’s Taste of Raj, sitting in the shadow of the village’s iconic All Saints’ Church on the heath, is packed. And this in a village (please, please, always refer to SE3 as a ‘village’ or you’ll upset the genteel locals) where there are “17 other restaurants” I am told by a man in the know. There have been good advance reports. “Best curry place in the area,” curry lover Tina announces when she hears we are off for a visit. She could just be right.
The menu’s a cracker, with a selection of special dishes including Lamb Dubby (£7.50) which uses plenty of Kashmiri chilli and petals from the cockscomb flower and Chicken Dhandar (£7.50) a sort of creamy dhansak with a late spice kick. There are also rarities like the super fresh tasting Tandoori Scallops (£5.95), Courgettes (£4.50) stuffed with potato, onion and coriander and vegetable side dish Broccoli Bhajee (£3.50).
Unusually all the main dishes appear looking exactly the same colour (although they certainly don’t taste the same) so I think it’s safe to say there’s none of the usual colouring used to electrify the look of the dishes here. And hip hip hooray, here’s an Indian chef who knows to keep his chicken moist and tender rather than relying on the sauces to cover up his over-cooking.
The restaurant layout is two sections joined by a little pinch point where you’ll find the bar and one table (where we sit) and this design successfully creates a good buzz while keeping the intimate feel of a small restaurant.
And as always, it’s the little extras. A complimentary soup and ‘magic mushroom’ (that’s a tasty fungi not something you’ll find in Amsterdam) to start, as well as the increasingly common ‘drink on the house’ as we pay the bill, following the less-than-usual orange slices after the main meals.
There’s a little sign in the window declaring ‘Open all Day’. This place would probably even be busy at 4.30.
• Taste of Raj, 9 Royal Parade, Blackheath Village, London, SE3 0TL. Tel: 020 8244 2823 or 020 8244 2822. Open: Daily noon – midnight.
Taste of Raj snapshot
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Whoops! That was nearly a pizza
Spice Lounge, Petersfield
“This is a strange-looking Indian,” Perry says. “It looks more like a pizza place.” Perry likes Indian food but says he can never remember what he likes so every time he eats it’s a new experience.
The entrance to Spice Lounge in this sleepy Hampshire market town (where was everyone? In the new Wetherspoon we learnt later) is upstairs and it’s easy to wander into their downstairs neighbours, an Italian place, as they share a man entrance. Now, I’ve nothing against Italian food, it seems to fuel all those guys in the mafia films, so it’s probably best not to put it down, but really, can pasta every be chosen over a spice rush?
Head upstairs and you’ll be rewarded with a gem of a place with low ceilings, oak beams, little snugs and, for those by the window, a peak into the town (where there are no people). A country Indian, now that’s the style.
Our Bangladeshi waiter, who’s proudly from Dhaka, not Sylhet, the area which supplies most of the curry house chefs and waiters, doesn’t look too impressed with my choice of Chicken Sali Boti (£8.95), which the menu trumpets as a popular wedding dish. It’s a wedding dish because everyone can eat it he says politely but it’s still a double-edged sword of a comment. Anyway, he prefers something way more spicy. Has spice every day he says. I like him already.
The apricots in this Parsi dish give it a nice zing, but I see what he means; it’s nice but won’t set the world on fire.
Our Dhaka friend seems more impressed with my other choice of Lamb Achari (£8.95). I can’t get enough of lime pickle so when I discovered a dish that used pickle in the cooking process I thought I’d hit gold and now it’s a regular order. More zing than those namby pamby apricots.
Perry declares he likes both dishes. Although as his curry menu memory is so bad it’s unlikely he’ll ever be able to find them again. Hopefully he’ll find this great little venue again though.
• Spice Lounge, 1-2 The Square, Petersfield, GU32 3HJ. Tel: 01739 303303. Open: daily noon-2pm, 5.30pm-11.30pm.
Spice Lounge snapshot
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We don’t serve beer sir
Simply Indian, Aldershot
“Four papadams and two beers please.”
You know the score every time you enter a curry house. The poor waiter has hardly got time to say hello and the standard order is out of the mouths of most of us. So I’ve always admired places that don’t serve alcohol (usually because of their Muslim faith) proving that their food can conquer all. Simply Indian is one such place, “because we prefer to concentrate on the food, which is what we do best,” I am told.
You’re allowed to bring your own booze, and handily there’s a shop just a few steps away, but true to their word, food is what they do best.
Sometimes the confidence in someone’s voice is enough to convince us of anything, but this time the manager’s sureness of his food’s quality was true to form not bull. This unassuming place, near Aldershot station, and with a sort of smart canteen feel to it, serves seriously decent food.
From tandoori starters (Tandoori Chicken £3.20), to classic dishes (Lamb Dansak £5.20), to the crushed chill hot (Lamb Patiwala £7.25), side dishes (Saag Aloo £2.75) and the extras (Pilao rice £2.30, Naan £2.20) nothing could be faulted. A lot of Indian meals, especially when there is a hot dish on the table, can blur the taste buds, but here each flavour came through. This balance was especially true of the dansak, when often the sour is allowed to over-power the sweet of this Persian speciality.
“That’ll be four papadams and some tasty food,” next time I’m in then.
• Simply Indian, 14-16 Station Road, Aldershot, Hampshire, GU11 1HT. Tel: 01252 330 070 or 0800 783 1481. Open: Daily 5.30pm-11pm.
Simply Indian snapshot
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And so we return…
Kerala Zone, Greenwich
Blame the World Cup. Blame the Germans for whooping us. Blame the sun. I don’t know, blame anything. The GCC has been remiss and not met for a long time. Luckily we have forgotten the football (maybe) and the rain has returned to London so we had returned to the delights of curry.
“Word has it that the Kerala Zone has reopened,” says GCC member number one.
“We must check it out,” says GCC number two.
There follows lots of comments that blogs which know nothing about publishing law would write up. Crawly type things. Reasons it shut in the first place. All alleged.
“That’s just rumours,” says the fair-minded GCC member.
And he won the day. The World Cup was over. The GCC was back in action. A fine turnout; the usual crowd were ready for spice action.
So the Kerala Zone was back. Optimism abounded. The new (young) guys running the place are keen and friendly. We’d caught the place in newbie territory, with a takeaway style menu and decor to match. Bit unfair, it was clearly in the up-and-running mode, but it had a first-day-at-school air about the place.
Starters seemed universally deep fried and garnished with slices of carrot for some reason (Cashew Nut Pakoda £3.25). Star of the show of the mains was a Cochin Squid Curry (never had that before, £8.25) which was seriously tasty and soft. Your name wasn’t Paul was it Herr Squid?
• Kerala Zone, 119 Trafalgar Road, Greenwich, SE10 9TX. Tel: 020 8293 9158. Open: daily noon-3pm and 6pm-11pm.
Kerala Zone snapshot
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The Royal Curry Club 