Great new book coming out in November called Food of the Grand Trunk Road (New Holland, £19.99) which includes recipes from along the route which stretches from Calcutta to Lucknow to Delhi then into the Punjab. Written by Hardeep Singh Kohli, recipes are from Anirudh Arora, head chef at Covent Garden’s Moti Mahal.
Khan’s, Liverpool
(Takeaway)
In a snap survey of friends and Twitter people most people seem to think if you order an Indian to be delivered you should get it within 45 minutes. So Khan’s effort of an hour and 10 minutes to deliver four dishes just over a mile falls way short. Even if we’re understanding and realize it’s a Saturday night it’s still a long wait.
One of our party fell asleep waiting while another resorted to pacing the room like a caged animal in need of a spice fix.
Of course, when you’re hungry, no-one pays too much attention to the food quality but I can report that the Chicken Jalfriezi (£5.20) was certainly extra spicy as requested, the Chicken Pathia (£5.20) sauce was a bit watery but had that balance of sweet and sour and although the Chicken Tikka Biryani (£5.90) looked as good as any biryani I’ve ever seen the tikka taste was missing from the meat.
All in all, it filled a hole on a Saturday night but not much more sadly. I really must stop ordering from places that also sell doners and pizzas…
Delivery: free within three miles for minimum orders of £9. The food arrived 70 minutes after the order was taken.
Specials: 10% discount on delivery orders over £30 and a 10% discount for orders that are collected. Free Onion Bhaji for orders over £10 which are collected.
Khan’s, 52 Walton Vale, Liverpool L9 2BU Tel: 0151 530 4920. Open: Daily 4.30pm–late.
Khan’s snapshot
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The Coriander, Westcombe Park, London SE3
Anyone who has to get off at Westcombe Park each day must run the curry gauntlet. On the left is the Royal Nepalese (the Greenwich Phantom’s favourite I hear) and on the right is Coriander. It must be nearly impossible to pass the fantastic spice smells without popping in on the way home. I’d never make it home, I know that.
The Corinader has a great little bar and a nice sized waiting area for anyone who does get sucked in to the right hand side to pick up a takeaway. You can’t blame other restaurants for maximising their seating space but most waiting areas are bit naff to say the least, usually consisting of the table where the boss does his accounts in the day. As for a bar, well, that’s an absolute bonus.
Try to get your hands on a takeaway menu before you go because there are discount vouchers on the front (£3 off for orders over £30 and £5 off for orders over £40) and these apply for eat in (reserve your table first) or takeaways. What a great idea.
A great way to get going is with the vegetarian starter Hara Kebab (£3.50), a lovely combination of spinach, potatoes, cottage cheese and cashew nuts. Think Onion Bhaji but nicer.
Classic dishes come in at around £5.50 (Lamb Madras, Chicken Vindaloo) and £6.50 (Lamb Balti, Chicken Dansak). But the chef’s recommendations offer some interesting alternatives, many of which you may not have tried before. For a touch of heat try Adha Diya (£7.50), chicken or lamb cooked with plenty of ginger and garlic in a cream and coconut sauce. It’s milder cousin Aam Diya comes with mango and sultanas.
Then back to the bar methinks.
The Coriander, 1A-3 Station Crescent, Westcombe Park, Blackheath SE3 &EQ. Tel: 020 8858 6818/7878. Open: Mon-Sat 5pm-11pm, Sun 1pm-10.30pm.
The Coriander snapshot
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Tandoori Nites, London E14
(Takeaway)
If you fancy a curry and your mate wants a doner then this is the part of London for you. Always makes me wary when a food place attempts to be everything to everyone but there’s so much competition round here a lot of takeaways seem to serve everything from curry to kebabs to pizza. Most are curry places at heart though, thank goodness.
The Chicken Dhansak (£4.70) is tasty enough and there’s certainly some kick to the Garlic Chilli Chicken (£7.25) but both sauces were on the watery side and required a bit of soaking up with the Mushroom Rice (£2.40). Not bad though, all in all, for an end-of-night curry.
The specials on the front of the menu are certainly worth checking out as they offer a range of Indian goodies at good prices. How about the Meal for Two with two popadoms, Onion Bhaji, Chicken Tikka, Chicken Kurma, Lamb Madras, Chicken Tikka Massala, Bombay Potato, Mushroom Bhaji, two Pilau Rice, nan bread, mint sauce, onion salad and lettuce salad. Not bad at £25.95. Because I love you I’ve done the sums and that’s £6.50 cheaper than ordering that lot individually.
Parking: on East India Dock Road and side streets.
Delivery: free within four miles for minimum orders of £10. Food was ready quickly for collection.
Specials: free onion salad with all orders and 10% discount on all orders over £10. Get free Bombay Potato or Tarka Dall if you spend £16-£29.99, plus a two-litre soft drink if you spend over £30.
Beer while you’re waiting: the nearest pub is the sparse George IV down Ida Street or the Greenwich Pensioner is five minutes away down Bazely Street.
Tandoori Nites, 235 East India Dock Road, London, E14 OEG. Tel: 020 7531 4331/4332. Open: daily noon–midnight).
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Masala Bay, Waterloo, Canada
My friend has lived in Canada for two years and says he has yet to find a decent curry house (think he means one that serves food like curry houses in England). Well, now he’s found one.
I beg to differ with my friend; there are some decent curries to be had in Canada, but admittedly Masala Bay‘s food is good. On a ‘sharing, let’s all dip in’ table there has to be one tikka masala butter type thing doesn’t there? It’s a rule. Masala Bay offers three choices of everybody’s favourite dish which is unusual as I doubt if many of us could say what the difference is anyway. So it’s Murg Tikka Makhani (Butter Chicken), Murg Tikka Lababdor or Murg Tikka Masala (all $15.99 plus taxes) depending on what you prefer.
The butter chicken was thick and not as sloppily buttery as you find in some places thank goodness. To complement this butter there was a nice tang in the Murgh Achari ($15.99 plus taxes), a very large portion of Aloo ki Chat ($6.99 plus taxes), Reshmi Kebab ($7.99 plus taxes), a pricey mix pickle ($2.99 plus taxes) and Tandoori Rotis ($1.99 plus taxes each).
Down a side street just off the main drag between Waterloo and Kitchener, there’s a nice outside area (strictly for summer dining, it gets mighty cold here in winter) while inside the bright and breezy decor is fun.
No decent curries in Canada indeed.
Masala Bay, 3B Regina Street North, Waterloo, ON N2J 2J7, Canada. Open: Mon-Thur 11am-2pm and 5pm-10pm, Fri 11am-2pm and 5pm-10.30pm, Sat 11.30am-2pm and 5pm-10.30pm, Sun 5pm-9pm. Tel: +1 519 747 2763.
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India Palace, Toronto, Canada
I knew I’d find one in Canada sooner or later. As soon as I tasted the food in India Palace I knew it. The Sylhet area in Bangladesh provides to bulk of chefs in British ‘Indian’ restaurants, and here in the heart of Toronto, the waiter confirms, is another one of the excellent chefs.
Canadian diners and vistors will be only too aware that being a curry lover is an expensive affair here, so the lunchtime buffet, offering a couple of main meat dishes, dhal, vegetables, chicken tikka, rice and bread, is excellent value at $11.95 (plus 13% tax). Eat later off the a la carte menu and you’ll pay just that for one of the main cheicken dishes.
Grab a window seat and watch Tornto pass by on the busy Queen Street West, chat to the waiter about your favourite dishes, but best of all tuck into good value food from a classic Sylheti chef.
India Palace, 257 Queen Street West, Toronto, M5V 1Z4, Canada. Tel: +1 416 593 7272. Open: daily 11.30am–11pm. email: info@indiapalacequeen.ca
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Gandhi Cuisine, Toronto, Canada
Although little more than a takeaway place with a few basic tables, Gandhi Cuisine seems to be the place to be for rotis in Toronto judging by the comments around me as I ate.
Set in a Bohemian part of town among tattoo parlours, bars, inexpensive restaurants and a mishmash of shops, Gandhis attracted a steady stream of students and travellers, and businessmen ringing their wives asking how hot the roti should be (they come in a choice of mild, medium or hot). More than one of these roti lovers proudly told their friend about the place’s reputation for good rotis.
If you’re after value, you should know the rotis are huge (nearly everyone walked out with a leftovers box) and the most popular is the Butter chicken roti ($11.95 plus tax). Just what you wanted to know? My pleasure.
Watching the chefs chopping and rolling away in the open kitchen, hearing the sizzle of the oil and breathing in that great smell of spice all adds to the nice buzz in Gandhis.
So it seems rotis are good. But what of the other dishes. The menu is fairly limited but if you like it hot then go for the Chicken Vindaloo with rice ($11.95 plus tax) washed down with a can of cold Coke ($1.50). My request for a ‘hot’ version prompted raised eyebrows and a ‘are you sure?’ And I soon knew why. With its thick tomato base, this was seriously one of the hottest vindys I have ever tasted. Thank goodness for the large portion of plain rice and the sour mixed pickles.
In line with the basic nature of the place, everything is served on a tray in a metallic container and must be eaten with a plastic fork. But this place is all about the food. And very good it is too.
Gandhi Cuisine, 554 Queen Street West, Toronto, Canada. Tel: +1 416 504 8155.
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Empress of India, Waterloo, Canada
Let me tell you, turnip tastes good curried. Sliced and cooked in a Jalfriezi-style with turmeric, onions and green peppers, it’s time to take a bow Empress of India chef.
And taking a bow for food at the end of a buffet shift takes some doing. Buffet food never usually scores, let’s be honest, but it works for me if it’s Indian and I have plenty of time to try ‘just a little bit’ of everything. Getting there with ten minutes to spare, ain’t so good.
You could argue the food should be as good at the end as it is at the start or you could argue getting there late is my own silly fault.
I blame the long King Road (in all its East, West, South and North guises) that links Kitchener and Waterloo, which meant me getting off the bus way past the Empress and heading into a bar (purely for directions you’ll understand).
Ten minutes before buffet closing means dried-out looking food, no restocking and almost no desserts left, and curry in a hurry. So it’s to the chef’s credit the food was still pretty decent.
Following on from the turnip was a tasty Chicken Korma, even though it was actually a Chicken Curry (the waitress admitted ‘this is supposed to be a korma’) and good, moist pillau rice.
And even though time was pushed there was still enough for nicely marinated Chicken Tandoori thighs, a crunchy Vegetable Curry, curried chick peas and slices of nan to mop it all up. Only the bony Lamb Curry didn’t appeal. Good work chef.
The lunchtime buffet (Mon-Fri) comes in at $11.99, but by time you’ve added a Kingfisher ($4.85), taxes and tip that’s flown over $20.
Empress of India, 103 King Street North, Waterloo, Ontario, N2J 2X5, Canada. Tel: +1 519 883 1314. Open: Mon-Sat 11.30am-2pm and 5pm -10pm (10.30pm Fri-Sat), Sun 4pm-9pm.
* Now moved to 34 King Street South.
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Always good to discover a new beer made for spicy food, so… presenting for those of you not from Canada… Cheetah. At 5% abv, there is a lager and a dark beer, the former with a nice tang and the latter a bit smoother. Both do what they aim to, which is to go down well with Indian food – they were tested with a Lamb Vindaloo. The beers are brewed in Toronto. Not sure what cheetahs have got to do with Indian food or Toronto, mind you.
The Guru, Niagara Falls, Canada
In this place of both beauty (the Falls are stunning) and utter tat (Clifton Hill seems to have been designed to distract the child with the world’s shortest-ever attention span) you will find the Guru.
The unassuming lattice wood and brown decor in the Guru could be seen as plain elsewhere, but in a town where you bombarded with the bright lights of casinos, the Hard Rock Café, the Haunted House, ten-pin bowling, Guinness World Records (need I go on?) this is a calm before the spicy storm.
Politely staffed, the pink-fronted Guru is wedged between Louis Tussard’s Waxworks and Super Souvenirs, just a nan’s thrown from the madness of Clifton Hill. Serving seriously decent food, it’s been here eight years.
Chicken Haryali Tikka ($13) is a tasty green dish cooked with mint and coriander and served up on a bed of lettuce with slices of raw onion. And the tender Lamb Vindaloo ($14) comes with a think dark sauce (made thicker with added coconut) although it’s not the hottest Vindy you’ll ever find. Add some spicy Achar ($1), Basmati Rice ($3) and Cheetah beers (see next post) for a great meal.
The Guru, Victory House, 5705 Victoria Ave, Cnr Clifton Hill and Victoria Ave. Niagara Falls, Ontario, L2G 3L5, Canada. Tel: +1 905 354 3444.
The Guru snapshot
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The Royal Curry Club 