I moved to Australia 5 years ago. I am blessed to have dined at some fine BIR establishments in the UK.
I'll always have a soft spot for Eye of the Tiger in Bournemouth which was my favourite when I was a student. I actually was able to dine there again last year on a trip back to UK and so much of the town has changed in the last 15 years which had me worried. But I am pleased to report that its as good as ever.

The food in Newcastle, NSW isn't bad at all really if you like certain food groups. I do like Newcastle as a place and its nice that its not overrun by the yellow tide...yet. However, unfortunately bar one lucky curry experience, I have found the quality of Indian in Australia to be down right appalling. The truth is, most Australians I've met hate strongly spiced food so Indian especially is really dialed down here, more so even in Newcastle. The service is always slow, lazy and generally appalling compared to the UK. Theres so much more competition in the UK I guess and the service in curry houses generally excellent - the cobra never stops flowing.

The good news is that with some practice, experimentation and following some of the guidance on this forum you can make BIR just as good as the UK. Yep I said it. Its true. The only thing thats different is the ambience. A lot of people here agonize over *that* taste but to me now its fairly simple to achieve, I'd say it boils down to several stages that if you get right, your end result will be right.

Having said all that, I'm no expert mind, and only really do 3-4 curries. But I do them well.

Quote from: chillihothot on February 22, 2019, 08:45 AM...I do like Newcastle as a place and its nice that its not overrun by the yellow tide...yet...

The 'yellow tide'? Is there something wrong with the water in NSW?

Quote from: Naga on February 22, 2019, 08:51 AM

Quote from: chillihothot on February 22, 2019, 08:45 AM...I do like Newcastle as a place and its nice that its not overrun by the yellow tide...yet...

The 'yellow tide'? Is there something wrong with the water in NSW?

It might be more their sewers (or the lack thereof ...) !
** Phil.

CHH, you're probably on the money about spicey food. I'm sure there are those who do like it but obviously not as many as in the UK. Certainly some of the people out here from the sub-continent would do. My father in law's favourite was a vindaloo.  It's good to know that the information on the forum is providing genuinely close BIR dishes. I'm noticing both similarities and differences when comparing my BIR style curry to the locally available dishes. I admit to not being a huge fan of blisteringly hot dishes.

I actually don't have a sewerage service here, or a town water supply. The Romans never made it this far, although I think some people have got them fancy flush dunnies and we now have plumbers as recognised tradespeople. My property has a stand alone, onsite 4 stage treatment plant.

Quote from: livo on February 22, 2019, 11:19 AM
CHH, you're probably on the money about spicey food. I'm sure there are those who do like it but obviously not as many as in the UK. Certainly some of the people out here from the sub-continent would do. My father in law's favourite was a vindaloo.  It's good to know that the information on the forum is providing genuinely close BIR dishes. I'm noticing both similarities and differences when comparing my BIR style curry to the locally available dishes. I admit to not being a huge fan of blisteringly hot dishes.

I actually don't have a sewerage service here, or a town water supply. The Romans never made it this far, although I think some people have got them fancy flush dunnies and we now have plumbers as recognised tradespeople. My property has a stand alone, onsite 4 stage treatment plant.

I actually wasn't referring to heat at all. You do very much get hot dishes here. But they are virtually tasteless. I am talking about spicing. Australians in general prefer very very light and "healthy" as opposed to anything with any fat or spicing in it which is bizarrely viewed as "unhealthy". Its just an Australian affectation that's all.

So what exactly were you referring to in the phrase 'the yellow tide'?