Topic: Curry Fever (leicester)

[vickym]

This is a fab restaurant, if you want a more regional style of cooking. Its not traditional CTM for example, but the have some excellent dishes and are award winners. Only down side, its not a cheap night out- 1 starter, 2 curry's, 1 naan, 1 rice and G&T and orange juice set us back ?36, but its worth it for a treat every now and then

[Kashmiri Bob]

I visited Leicester yesterday and the welcoming lights of the The Curry Fever on Belgrave Road caught my eye.  It was good to get inside out of the cold on this wet and windy evening.  A waiter directed me to a small single table tucked to one side by the window, next to the entrance porch.  Good seating, offering a commanding view of the restaurant interior. A bit dated, but lush, traditional decor; very comfy with subtle lighting. I liked it straightaway. Just two couples already dining, but most of the vacant tables were placed together (presumably in preparation for largish bookings).  I gathered from the waiter that the place would indeed soon be full. I was supplied with a menu to peruse and ordered a plain popaddom with condiments, and a pint of draught Cobra.  These arrived within seconds.  The popaddom (cold) was nice and crispy, and accompanied by the finest looking tri-lobed pickle dish I have ever seen, made from heavy solid brass, with white porcelain inserts for the relishes.  The dips consisted of finely chopped onion, with the merest hint of coriander and cucumber, and one sliver of tomato. A good quality mango chutney.  These were fine.  There was also a mint sauce dip.  I found this offering a bit odd, because it was actually mint sauce (no yogurt) with a little spice (heat) added.  A very thick and rather gooey consistency.  It was OK I suppose.  The establishment has a fairly extensive menu and I was tempted by one of the off-the-bone house specialties, but decided to keep it simple with a chicken tikka starter, lamb vindaloo main, and a garlic naan.  I was well aware of the reputation and multitude of accolades this restaurant has received.  Such as, inclusion in the Good Curry guide since 2001, voted Best Restaurant in the Midlands (not sure by whom), and recommended by the beeb Holiday program as the Best Indian restaurant in Leicester.  I was looking forward to some proper BIR grub!

My starter was served very quickly and certainly looked the business, sizzler style.  Four large chunks of tikka breast on a bed of furiously crackling/hissing sliced onions, garnished with fresh chopped coriander.  Happy days!  My white porcelain plate containing fresh salad and a lemon wedge arrived simultaneously. The waiter then carefully placed a pair of small (stainless) serving tongs on the sizzling platter.  I thought this was a lovely touch, enabling me to place these large chunks on my plate at my leisure.  Made note to self to get some of these for my home presentations.  I randomly selected two chunks for my plate and could not resist a little helping of those lovely browned onions.  The pickle tray had been left (another nice touch) and I added a dollop of mango chutney on the side.  All sorted, I cut into one of the beauties. Hot (too hot) rubbery chicken and somewhat chewy.  All four pieces were similar. Not good at all. Appeared to be quality chicken and the flavour was there, with a pleasant peppery finish, something I have tasted before (in kebab houses) and plan to experiment with as a potential refinement to Blades recipe.  But here the obvious reheating had ruined the texture of the meat.  I suspected microwave.  Very disappointing.  I generally reheat my tikka at home by turning under a very hot grill for a couple of mins.  I think with care a hot oven can also achieve acceptable results.  What also worked against the chef here, perhaps, was the size of the chunks.  Probably half as big again compared to your average good sized chunk, and therefore tricky to re-heat. I ate all because I was hungry. But 0/10.

The restaurant had by now filled up considerably and there were orders of 16 popaddoms etc per table to be heard.  I wondered how long it would be before my main course was ready.  Hardly any time at all in fact.  Within seconds of putting the cutlery down, my table was cleared and replaced afresh in readyness for the next gastronomic experience.  No more than three mins later I was served with the lamb vinders.  The presentation again was excellent.  The curry was served in small balti dish with a smart, dimpled copper plated exterior, and complete with a matching ornate copper plate handle serving spoon.  The naan was separate on a standard over-sized stainless oval serving dish.  I gazed into the vinders with interest.  Looked good colour wise. After first checking no one was looking, I had a good sniff with my nose close to the bowl.  Not something I would normally do in the presence of company of course.  The dish did not smell of anything in particular and definitely no BIR aroma.  I had a good fork around.  Aside from the pieces of meat there was some chopped coriander folded into a sauce of medium thickness, and a solitary one inch slice of onion, which I promptly ate (firm to the bite; felt it was not supposed to be there).  Plenty meat that seemed tender.  No oil separation in the sauce to speak of.  I tore off a piece of naan and got stuck in.  First impression was pretty tasty/fiery but not overly so.  After a few scoops however I realized that the main flavour was from black pepper; loads of it.  Notes of overly sharp tomato paste lurking in the background, some sweetness, and little else.  The meat was good and I noticed some pools of oil appearing in the dish, as if by magic.  I carried on and completed the task, but the black pepper was by then over-powering and frankly quite unpleasant. I am fairly new to home curry cooking but I would say that this vinders was a careless rush job. By no means the worst curry ever, but 3/10 is being generous and taking into account the nice presentation and good service.  The naan was easily the best part of the meal.  Fresh from the tandoor, all the textures, and a stunning shiny ghee gloss, with plenty of chopped coriander.  But no freshly sliced garlic!  Again just my opinion, but using garlic butter is just plain lazy as far as I am concerned and for that alone, 0/10.  Remarkably, it then took a good 20 mins for my bill to arrive, which came with one of those little sachets containing a warmed fragrant tissue.  I remember thinking an After-Eight mint (or two) would have been nice, after all that bloomin black pepper!  Still, I sort of enjoyed this short visit; it was a nice place to be, just a pity the food was not up to scratch on this occasion.  It would have been good to look further along the Golden Mile and its Christmas lights, but it was still lagging down so I headed back to the train station, and Birmingham.

The cost of my meal was 18.38 (the pint of Cobra was an additional 3.99).

Rob 

[Stephen Lindsay]

For all the time it takes to cook I wonder of the value of reheating tikka when it can be cooked from scratch quickly.

[George]

Rob - what a great review, thanks. You write in a very interesting style. If you're not already a journalist, or in some job like that, then perhaps you could be.

[Kashmiri Bob]

Rob - what a great review, thanks. You write in a very interesting style. If you're not already a journalist, or in some job like that, then perhaps you could be.

Thank you very much George.  I had a takeaway (Kushi) last night and will write another appraisal.  I should warn you though that there will be at least half a page on the pickle tray alone!  But seriously, I do enjoy reading all the reviews here, be they a couple of lines, a paragraph, bullet points, etc.  All good stuff to know.

Rob