Topic: Sonali, Colchester

[ne5566]

Having lived in Korea for 10 years, the food I miss most is Indian curry. Ordering one from the Sonali in Colchester I was disgusted at what should have been a tasty experience. Our order included 3 starters and a lamb tikka main meal which explicitly said came with salad. The entire salad content for the order, was one little pot, 75ml, of almost pulverised onion and a few specks of tomato. The raita was simply white water. The sheikh kebab was dry and tastless. As for the tikka, it was so tough I nearly chocked trying to eat it - the salad and raita had been expired trying to flavour the tastelss sheikk kebab. A chicken pasanada we orderd was simply tasteless chicken in a sweet gloop. I've never had such a dissappointing curry.

Having subsequently ordered from another local takeaway, the experience was almost the same. It seems  that many TA's,  possibly bad ones, buy in premade kebabs because they are all the same shape, and are dry and tastless. And many of the curries seem to be exaclty the same wherever you go - for example, korma is just bright yellow, horribly sweet and in a pool of mush. Have I just encountered a bad run of takeaways?

I was shocked by how the standard from two formerly okay establishments have slipped in 10 years and how their food tasted alike, rather like a can of curry tastes the same no matter what supermarket its been bought in. And I noticed the cutting back on things like salad. I remember a brown bag half full of lettuce, onion and tomato even with a simple onion bahji.

The Sonali meal was so gross I chucked most of it away and that is something I rarely ever do! And it was so bad it prompted me to try to cook my own curries and led me to join here.

[Onions]

One of the best curry houses in the country is in Sudbury, just over the border mate.

[london]

Why don't you just name the place?

London.

[Onions]

Can't remember it's sodding name   but there aren't many to choose from

[Onions]

Ballingdon Valley, of course