Curry Recipes Online
Curry Chat => Lets Talk Curry => Topic started by: Yellow Fingers on September 20, 2005, 05:04 PM
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I just realised that the one thing missing from this forum is a restaurant review section. I would really like to see this as it would help me to know what's really going on in the Indian restaurants across the country. If the idea is taken up can I suggest that the admin, or whoever, provides a pro-forma review page that you just fill in the blanks on. I personally would prefer it this way to provide some standardisation for the reviews. But, also, I would specifically like sections like description of the curry, to include colour, thickness, known ingredients, guessed ingredients, heat etc. The list could be endless, but my motive is to see what the restaurants are really serving, down to the fine details that anyone who wants to copy it, and I assume that incldes most of this forum, would want to know.
In other words it has to be more than a 'we had three dishes , one was ok , one good but too hot' type of review and more of a ' the vindaloo was excellent, unusually there were whole spices in it, cardamom and cloves, it was quite runny consistency and the fresh red chillies made all the difference' type of review. Detail is what I would require if this is to work effectively.
I really think this could be of help to us all.
So there's my suggestion. Any thoughts?
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Sounds good to me, could also include any extra info gained from talking to the staff\chef etc..
Maybe should be a whole new group for restaurant reviews ?
cK
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I just realised that the one thing missing from this forum is a restaurant review section. I would really like to see this as it would help me to know what's really going on in the Indian restaurants across the country.
Any thoughts?
Good idea Yellow Fingers. My only comment here is that most of us would never get to the particular restaurant on review to try what's reccomended.
I do think a review of the various base sauces / recipes on this site would also be of use to us.
For instance I have just made and reviewed Darth's 99.9% base and Pete has been giving "100 Best Balti" a good going over. Perhaps others might make a choice, let everyone know what they are going to make and review it after. We will then build up a general picture of what bases and recipes the site has on offer.
Ray
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We should rate them first on the food and then on willingness to divulge secrets! ;D
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Good idea Yellow Fingers. My only comment here is that most of us would never get to the particular restaurant on review to try what's reccomended.
Hi ray
No, that's exactly what this type of review would not be about. My idea is that the reviews are a way to share the texture, the smell, the ingredients, whatever relates to the dish.
It would not primarily be a review of the curry house, there are many web sites that do that already. Of course a review of the curry house is also nice, but it would be secondary to a review, no not a review, a description of the dishes you had.
What I wanted was a description in as much detail as possible of the dishes that you had. Hopefully that would benefit us all to be able to copy the restaurant style and to see exactly how much difference there really is across the country for each particular curry.
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I agree on this, as there does seem to be some discrepancy around the country on different dishes...ie. in some areas madras is hotter than vindaloo where as Northampton curry houses the vindaloo is hotter than madras.
And i've had varied madras's. i even had a very poor one in leicester when it looked like the sauce was just microwaved and not fryed with the spices as you'd expect a normal dish to be, it just looked like base sauce and tasted like water. and that was from a restaurant Recomened by the "Curry Club" atleast thats what the sticker said in the window.
After speaking with some other friends, they too have said that they've had poor curries from places recommended by "Curry Club"
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What restaurant was that John? I live in the Leicester area so I'd like to avoid it, although your dish sounds eerily similar to the worst food I've ever had, from the Akash on London Rd. I SWEAR the curry was out of a tin, really, I'm not even joking!
Anyway to the original subject, I like the idea of restaurant views a lot, and I like the idea of base sauce/site recipes even more. I'm fairly confused now in relation to the base sauces and reviews would be very helpful to sort out which ones now are nearer the mark and which ones are not worth bothering with, etc.
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Hi Y.F.
Now I get the picture better. Sorry but I misunderstood your original meaning.
I think it a good idea but I personally find explanation a bit awkward. Curry is quite complex in it's tastes and textures and describing what you experience in words is to me hard. However, I can only try. Some of the photo's on the site speak more than words so how about more of these!
We have a lot of recipes for bases etc on this site but not too many folk trying them out and reporting back. I would like to encourage more members to try out what's on offer and review these on the site.
For instance I intend to go back to the "100 Best Balti" book and recreate their three bases and following that am going to try the two stage restaurant base by Mridula Baljekar.
And as you say the gradual addition of this sort of info can only be a positive step forward for us all.
Ray
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What restaurant was that John? I live in the Leicester area so I'd like to avoid it, although your dish sounds eerily similar to the worst food I've ever had, from the Akash on London Rd. I SWEAR the curry was out of a tin, really, I'm not even joking!
I think it could be the same place, its a white fronted building right next door to another tandoori, and its on the right hand side as you walk away from the railway station and away from the town, about 5min walk from railway station.
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I think it must be the same place John, sounds spot on. It's on Leicester's very own 'curry mile', or in reality the 'curry few hundred yards'. For some reason it's always cited as the best place in town and everyone knows it and thinks of it as such. This makes me sad. They must be trading on past glories with another chef and owner, or something. ???
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in some areas madras is hotter than vindaloo where as Northampton curry houses the vindaloo is hotter than madras.
hello John,
I see my restaurant review idea died a death, ahh well? ?:D
I see you come from Northampton and I will be stopping off there in a few weeks time. Can you recommend a good curry house somewhere near the bus or train stations please? Actually I don't mind a walk of a mile or so from the stations if that helps. Hope you can help.
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Hello Yellow,
Most of the curry houses i've been in are on the other side of town to the train station. However there is an indian just 5mins walk from the train staion called Jeera Masala, as you walk from the station into town it will be on your right handside, it opened a couple of years ago so im not sure if it has the taste yet! But might be worth ago, im sure you'll know if its any good as you approach it, just open your nostrels and sniff for the smell.
There is also an indian buffet type of place dead oposite jeera masala in a complex with a chinese and a cinema, but i wouldn't try it if i were you as the dishes taste very boring and they definatly dont have the taste.
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Ther is a takeaway on Haydn Road, Nottingham
It's called "The Sizzler"
It's run by a really nice man and they make fantastic curries
The meat or veg is never overdone
They have a spiced but fresh taste
The gravy is superb
It has the flavour and, a smell that is out of this world
It's slightly out of my way, but whenever I can, I go there
Because the main ingredients are so fresh, they can be frozen.
Gorgeous.....I want one!
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Can someone suggest some places to eat in Leicester (along that line of indian shops) and a place outside Burmingham, called Hainsworth or something like that?? That place near Birmingham is where we have found lots of indian shops and many places to eat. I have yet to eat the BIR curry and want to go to a good place. Those are the 2 cities I will be going to the week after next as my family is coming to visit from the states. I did find a very good place in Hainsworth - its been open for like 3 months and served very authentic indian food. The lunch buffet was excellent but I want to try this fabulous BIR curry that everyone raves about. Knowing and using all the indian spices very thoroughly, I may be able to help out in the mystery!! Thats my hope!
Payal
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I have yet to eat the BIR curry and want to go to a good place.
Payal
I fear you may need to visit half a dozen or more restaurants and have at least twice as many meals, to get a good feel for how similar (recipe?) they are on the one hand, and how the quality (execution?) can be a bit different on the other hand. You may get lucky or unlucky with just one or two visits and meals. You almost need someone with you who can confirm that the food on the table is representative of what we call BIR. Birmingham Balti houses may be a bit different, in my experience.
>its been open for like 3 months and served very authentic indian food.
Yes, as I'm sure you know, there's a difference between authentic and what we call BIR.
>I want to try this fabulous BIR curry
This BIR term was sort of coined here. Don't ask for it, whatever you do! The restaurants are unlikely to have a clue!
>Knowing and using all the indian spices very thoroughly,
>I may be able to help out in the mystery!! Thats my hope!
Go for it! We're counting on you, and look forward to reading your feedback.
Regards
George
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George
Thanks for that reply. You are absolutely right in that it would make more sense to have someone with me who can tell me what is a good curry or not! I can say from experience that the same restaurant can serve the same dish on 2 nights and it can be very different in quality and taste.
Yes, it was only after coming here 4 months ago that I discovered what a "curry" was. We dont use that term in indian cooking. We did have someone from england come to Texas and tell us he was craving a good "curry" but when i asked what that was, he couldnt really explain. I assumed it to mean something with a gravy/sauce to it.
I went to one restaurant in Derby (Anoki) that i actually enjoyed but I dont know if what I had classified as a "good curry" or not. It didnt have any taste that I differentiated as being special - just had onions and garlic and spices cooked in plenty of oil. It will really drive me crazy if I go and have trouble identifying a "taste" in the food :)
Can someone suggest some places for me to start at..i know there was some place that some people said to stay away from in Leicester - I dont want to end up there!
Payal
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I went to one restaurant in Derby (Anoki) that i actually enjoyed but I dont know if what I had classified as a "good curry" or not....Can someone suggest some places for me to start at..i know there was some place that some people said to stay away from in Leicester - I dont want to end up there!
Payal
Chances are, I'd say 90% likely, that the restaurant you visited was a fair example of a BIR, simply because most curry houses are. There are only a handful of 'authentic' Indian restaurants in the UK, like the Red Fort and Bombay Brasserie in London. And then there are a few (small minority of) BIRs where the food quality is so poor, that they would be bad places to eat out for any purpose.
We all talk about 'the taste' as if we're all in agreement, but are we? Most of us have never met and our ideas may be quite different.
Leicester must have plenty of curry houses, I guess. Try searching at www.tandoori.co.uk or anywhere which has restaurant reviews, like this site should really have.
Regards
George
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I have sent Stew an email about adding a restaurant review section, I think he is traveling at the moment though so I don't know when he will get it.
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Can someone suggest some places to eat in Leicester (along that line of indian shops) and a place outside Burmingham, called Hainsworth or something like that???
Payal
Hi Payal,
Go to a local Taxi Office, or phone one, and ask any of the Asian Taxi drivers ( plenty in Leicester ) where they would go and eat.
If the restaurant is frequented by the ethnic locals it will not be far off a good quality restaurant.
Ray
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Payal and others
Here' an extract from a review I found. I feel like visiting Leicester now! But have these people never heard about base sauce? I can't believe many places don't use it.
"This is what Indian food is all about! The variety of food is outstanding and the naan breads are to die for! I had the finest Chicken Tikka Masala dish ever, all the food is cooked to order and you can tell. The chefs special's are just that!"
http://www.reviewcentre.com/review169341.html
Tamarind Indian Restaurant - Leicester
http://www.myleicester.net/leicester/restaurants-reviews-harmans-punjabi-dhaba.htm
Harman's Punjabi Dhaba
But the reviw says: " Punjabi Dhabi serves real indian food at rock bottom prices. It is to my knowledge the only place in Leicester serving totally authentic indian home cooked food compared to the commercial anglo/bangladeshi fake version sold almost everywhere else."
http://www.myleicester.net/leicester/restaurants-reviews-the-taj-mahal.htm
"Leicester's oldest Indian restaurant"
"unlike in some other Indian restaurants, each dish was distinctive with a subtle approach to flavouring."
http://www.myleicester.net/leicester/restaurants-reviews-dylans.htm
"the chicken just melts in your mouth"
"This restaurant is quite different fron the old flock wallpapered anglo/bangladeshi type of yesterday. It is a modern restaurant with tasteful and stylish decor. The food is truly indian cuisine with indian not bangladeshi chefs. "
"There are few if any (other) restaurants of this calibre in Leicester, but Shimla Pinks runs close. Curry fever, an award winning restaurant makes a very poor comparison in decor, service and even the food. Portions are large and prices for a place of this quality very low....Pilao rice was almost white with a hint of real saffron and not the normal yellow fake saffron style..."- reviw by Chris the curry eater, 35+ years experience
Maybe BIRs are starting to die out!
Regards
George
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Thank you so much for that George. I checked out all the links and will write down the names in case I run across those in Leicester. it is a starting point for me at least. It seems maybe in the more heavily indian populated areas, there is more authentic food because that is what we like to go out to eat. Eating BIR food is not authentic tasting for indians. Not to worry, the curry houses will probably remain at each street corner!! I am not sure local people used to eating curries will even like authentic indian food as there are no curries ;D
Payal
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Payal
Here are some more suggestions taken from the 1995 'Taj Good Curry Restaurant Guide' by Pat Chapman
Now before you all laugh:
- these places were voted into the 'Top 100' UK curry houses by club members, not by PC himself, and
- although the guide is 10 years old, I bet most of the establishments still exist. I know my local curry houses haven't changed much in the last 10 years.
The 'Top 100 UK' places listed for Leicester are:
- Curry Fever, 139 Belgrave Road, and
- Friends Tandoori, 41-45 Belgrave Road
Others which look promising include:
Akash, 159 London Road
Curry House, 63 London Road
So it lools like Belgrave Road and/or London Road might be a good starting point.
Regards
George
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Thanks George, I am making a list of these places. I hate to randomly try places because most of the time the food is nothing great. I have tried 5 restaurants in the Derby area and have only found 1 to have decent food. I wouldnt dream of going to the other 4 ever again!!
Payal
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I have tried 5 restaurants in the Derby area and have only found 1 to have decent food. I wouldnt dream of going to the other 4 ever again!!
Payal
I fear you may come to the conclusion that BIR style food is not all that many people crack it up to be. Last night I went to what I've long-considered the best local curry house around here. I'm sure the food was as good as normal but, somehow, I couldn't help wondering why I have such a fascination with this BIR stuff. Authentic Indian cuisine is so much better - perhaps all my time would be better spent learning more about authentic cooking, rather than pursuing this almost fruitless search (so far) for the BIR taste.
Regards
George
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That is exactly what I have decided!! The 1 dish I liked from the one place is a dish i can duplicate mostly - the shahi or makhani gravy. The 1 authentic indian restaurant I went to in Hainsworth (sp.?) had real exotic vegs on the buffet - I had never seen them on a buffet before. I dont think people are too fond of bittermelon and tinda (2 vegetables that indians love!!). No signs of curry on the buffet at all. I am on this site in the hopes of helping out with the taste...if it is just technique, who knows, it may be something i do naturally that I learned while growing up - something i dont realize I am doing!!! I found this mystery to be very fascinating and hope I can help. But i have started making some of the bases that seem more authentic but i make enough for 1 dish so I dont have to keep it. Fresh is always better for me!!! I do believe sometimes the flavors develop over time but I am just not a fan of freezing food. But I do hope this mystery gets solved someday soon!! I still do want to try a real good "curry" just to see what all the fuss in the UK is about!!!!
Payal
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Payal
Here are some more suggestions taken from the 1995 'Taj Good Curry Restaurant Guide' by Pat Chapman
Now before you all laugh:
- these places were voted into the 'Top 100' UK curry houses by club members, not by PC himself, and
- although the guide is 10 years old, I bet most of the establishments still exist. I know my local curry houses haven't changed much in the last 10 years.
The 'Top 100 UK' places listed for Leicester are:
- Curry Fever, 139 Belgrave Road, and
- Friends Tandoori, 41-45 Belgrave Road
Others which look promising include:
Akash, 159 London Road
Curry House, 63 London Road
So it lools like Belgrave Road and/or London Road might be a good starting point.
Regards
George
Be Aware that these places were voted 10 years ago, and the chef at the time may have moved on, they could be very poor now.
For example: i've been to Akash, 159 London Road and its a very poor curry, info at the beginning of this thread
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http://www.myleicester.net/leicester/restaurants-reviews-dylans.htm
"the chicken just melts in your mouth"
"This restaurant is quite different fron the old flock wallpapered anglo/bangladeshi type of yesterday. It is a modern restaurant with tasteful and stylish decor. The food is truly indian cuisine with indian not bangladeshi chefs. "
This is another one to avoid at all costs.? True, it started out only a couple of years ago producing some of the best food I've ever, ever had, and was definitely not the standard BIR fare, although it gave a passing nod to the style here and there.? But alas, that ship has sailed.? I wonder which restaurant that chef moved on to, because I wouldn't feed my dog on the last few meals I had there. They've been advertising for staff for months, minimum wage too.
Payal I think you should be heading to the Belgrave Rd area of town for a more authentic meal, it's an almost exclusively asian area.? A lot of places on London Rd seem to cater for drunk students as it's near the university, but I haven't been to all of them.? Belgrave seems a better option.
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Authentic Indian cuisine is so much better
Have to disagree with you on this one ;D
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Authentic Indian cuisine is so much better
I agree with Mark
I find traditional indian recipes lack the intensity of flavour.
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I love BIR curries in the same sort of way I like Big Macs and KFC. It's pretty low quality and unhealthy but I enjoy this food from time to time. My love affair with BIR curries started many years before I had the privilege to taste Indian food at a couple of 5 star hotels in Delhi, and subsequently at other 5 star hotels in the Middle East; and at places like the Red Fort and Bombay Brasserie in London. Wow! The quality and delicacy of flavour is in a different league to the BIR style. I think we'll have to agree to differ on this one. Also, I don't like hot curries. I'm more intererested in fine flavours than the number of chillies which have been added.
Regards
George
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Oh, I didnt know you had indian food in some restaurants in India! I was very surprised when I was told that some of those real quality restaurants dont even use garlic in the food!! I couldnt tell from the taste - it is a real art to be able to cook without garlic and sometimes onions and still have so much taste. Now when i go to a good restaurant in India, I always ask just to see what they say!
Payal
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Payal
Here are some more suggestions taken from the 1995 'Taj Good Curry Restaurant Guide' by Pat Chapman
Now before you all laugh:
- these places were voted into the 'Top 100' UK curry houses by club members, not by PC himself, and
- although the guide is 10 years old, I bet most of the establishments still exist. I know my local curry houses haven't changed much in the last 10 years.
The 'Top 100 UK' places listed for Leicester are:
- Curry Fever, 139 Belgrave Road, and
- Friends Tandoori, 41-45 Belgrave Road
Others which look promising include:
Akash, 159 London Road
Curry House, 63 London Road
So it lools like Belgrave Road and/or London Road might be a good starting point.
Regards
George
Curry Fever still does an excellent curry, very very good.