Topic: Old School BIR recommendations - outside of London! (updated)

[joshallen2k]

Hi again all - I posted about a month ago looking for a legit 70's/80's style (old school) BIR recommendation in Central London. I was sadly disappointed by the responses that they seemed few and far between - no recommendations.

Well the good news is that I'm no longer bound travel-wise to central London. I can realistically travel anywhere within about an hour outside of the M25. So I'm widening the net for recommendations.

Can anyone help out an original cr0 curryhead who has been away from the UK for way too long? Thank you all!!!

p.s. Phil - I actually did look up your place in Cornwall, while it does look ideal, 4 hours is just too far for this trip!

[Peripatetic Phil]

I would agree with that, J2K — even when curry was my be-all-and-end-all, a four-hour journey for what I hoped could turn out to be the perfect curry would seem somewhat excessive.  Let me cast my mind back to my halceon days in Kent and see if I can remember somewhere to recommend that might meet your expectations ...

Well, it's not old-school BIR as I remember it from the 60s and 70s, but it was still my preferred location for BIR when I lived in Kent — the Raja of Kent in Tenterden.  Otherwise take yourself off to Ashford, which has a large ex-Ghurka population, and sample the offerings there.

[joshallen2k]

Raja of Kent in Tenterden I could swing. Thank you for the recommendation. When was the last time you were there?

Any other recommendations?

[Peripatetic Phil]

Raja of Kent in Tenterden I could swing. Thank you for the recommendation. When was the last time you were there?Any other recommendations?

  I get back to Kent at most twice per year, and try to visit the Raja on at least one of those occasion, so "some time in 2024" (and definitely in 2023) would be the most accurate I can manage.  As to other recommendations, I'm afraid not — I have now been exiled to Cornwall since 2017, so my recollection of dining inside and just outside the M25 are now virtually non-existent.  As I mentioned in my earlier post, Ashford houses a large ex-Ghurka population, and the reviews of the Nepalese restaurants there are definitely positive :

Gurkha Villa
4.4(179) · £10–20 · Nepalese
30 Bank St
Closed ⋅ Opens 11 am
"The food is authentic, and we particularly enjoy the pure Nepalese flavours."
Everest Inn Ashford
4.5(666) · £30–40 · Nepalese
Saturn House, 113 Station Rd
Closed ⋅ Opens 12 pm
"The Himalayan goat curry was the best goat curry I've had in the UK."

I used to make a point of eating in one particular BIR whenever I shopped in Ashford, but sadly I can no longer remember which ...
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** Phil.

[joshallen2k]

Thank you Phil. I will try the Raja and report back