Quote from: haldi on August 21, 2012, 09:29 AM
I can honestly say that I don't know where to buy an indian takeaway that still has "the taste"
There has been a sudden change of old places being taken over, or new places coming along
The whole flavour of curries has changed......

......I live in Nottingham
Does anyone know of anywhere that still does the old business?

Poor Haldi, all he wanted to know is where he can now buy a BIR curry, with "the taste", in Nottingham.  Anyone?

Though I do believe that comments to do with why "the taste" may have "died" are relevant.

I'm sure poor Haldi would be devastated to see the majority of the responses in this thread.

i asked the manager in midlands a while ago why his curries had changed (me being devastated that they had, there's only billycat's place on the wirral that i now know of).

his was as devastated as me in a way but not his bank account. the reply was very simple "its what the customers like". the change has brought more custom.

it's nice to dream of a new section coming onto the menu's "70's curry" but from what the manager said i can't see it happening.

Quote from: JerryM on September 05, 2012, 03:51 PM
it's nice to dream of a new section coming onto the menu's "70's curry" but from what the manager said i can't see it happening.

I was speaking to Ali the other day and he was saying he is going to be cutting back on his menu's. Explaining it is necessary to keep up with demand as the kitchen struggles to deliver so many varied dishes. I can't help but feel it is also to do with expenditure in a dwindling economy.

Quote from: Axe on September 06, 2012, 10:18 AM
I was speaking to Ali the other day and he was saying he is going to be cutting back on his menu's. Explaining it is necessary to keep up with demand as the kitchen struggles to deliver so many varied dishes. I can't help but feel it is also to do with expenditure in a dwindling economy.

If by "cutting back on the menu" Ali means reducing the number of different dishes offered, I cannot help but feel that that may well be a step in the right direction.  Do away with the umpteen "Chef's specials",  "House specials" and all the other "specials" that cost at least 1.5 x as much a a normal curry, focus on the real kernels of BIR cuisine (Bhoona, Curry, Bombay, Ceylon, Dhansak, Korma, Madras, Patia, Vindaloo, Phal, ...) x (Chicken, Lamb, King prawn), add a small but well-chosen selection of Biryani and Tandoori dishes and he could be on a winner.  IMHO, of course !

** Phil.

I guess times are difficult. Noticed more and more restaurants doing the groupon thing as well to get people in the door.  Bought one myself for a Bangladeshi restaurant here in Birmingham.  You get a popadom and starter (which includes the Aubergine Delight) and a main course for two, for 12 quid.  The voucher value is 32 quid so quite a discount.  Not used it yet.  The good lady has her eye on the chicken pasanda (contains numeg and red wine no less).  Be interesting to see how it fairs to my offering the other week using 941bars recipe. I'm fairly confident the 941 special cant be matched.

Well, maybe the chef is reacting to people like me:
Whenever I see a pretty small shop offering hundreds of dishes (even worse: different types of cuisine) I'm immediately turned off because I just know that you cannot possibly have such a vast array at a high quality standard. The chances of convenience foods (ie. frozen, but delivered cooked chicken bits) being involved becomes much too large for me. This potential "diversity" in food may, in fact, have led to the wide adoption of Patak's (and other) pastes. On the other hand, what do I know ?!

I'm sure Ali has the best of intentions as far as his menu is concerned, he is after all, a successful restauranteur. If I were in his position, I would rather sacrifice certain dishes than sacrifice the quality to maintain a wider choice. He does have a selection of Chef specialties, but not nowhere near the numbers that I have seen others do.