BIR consistency (or lack of it)

[George]

About a month a ago I went to a BIR for a sit down meal. Every dish from starter, through main courses, vegetables, naan bread and rice - was superb. I've never tasted better - not in the 80s, 90s or ant any time. This restaurant has long been one of my regional favourites. Most of the time it's very good indeed.

Last night I went back and had exactly the same dishes. They were all inferior. Gone were the divine flavours. The food tasted just 'average' and nothing special. But not bad enough to complain.

How can this be? We went early on Friday evening (last night) so the restaurant was not yet too busy. I think the previous visit was on a Tuesday evening, when the restaurant was also fairly quiet, early in the evening.

I have no idea who the Chefs are and when they work. It sounds like lucky dip. Or could it be my taste buds?

[JerryM]

George,

one distinct possibility is the chef as u say. i won't go to my local TA on a monday night as the main chef is off on mondays. u can smell in the street when he's in or out.

the other experience i've had in the midlands is the manger "owner" or lack of him. the rest of the guys seem to become a tad more relaxed if he's not in and things end up going to pot.

the other thing i've noticed in some places which own several outlets is that they move their chefs around (i suppose to cover for absences).

depends on how much it means to u but next time u're in u should ask who the chef is or even ask to thank him personally - sounds a tad pompus but it works. then ask each time if he's in. asking the waiter for his name is also an essential. funny experience i've had is that our fav waiter is called jack - i don't believe it for a minute but it makes a difference that he knows that he's said we can call by that name.

[Stephen Lindsay]

assuming that they are using the same recipes and ingredients every night then the chef would have to be the main variable I suppose.

[George]

assuming that they are using the same recipes and ingredients every night then the chef would have to be the main variable I suppose.

The difference was so significant, I can't help wonder if the different chefs do their own thing with, effectively, different 'recipes' and mixes/quantities of ingredients.

Another point is that my friend had a Jalfrezi but noted that it had no solid peppers included - just slices of onion. We thought peppers are an essential feature of a Jalfrezi, so it was definitely an 'off' day.

Jerry's point about the manger could be key. He was not there. I must go back and have a word with the manager, who I know is approachable. At its best, though, this place is so good, it's almost worth tolerating the occasional mediocre meal for the fair chance of hitting the taste jackpot.

[Razor]

George,

I've experienced exactly the same thing with my fav restaurant.  It's really frustrating isn't it.  When I experienced the inferior meal, it was on a busy Friday evening at around 21:30.

The only thing that I could think of, was because they were so busy, they were compromising with their prep work.  Perhaps not marinating for long enough or missing out key components due to rushing?  I just don't know?

At least I can say that 9/10, we get a great dish, so i guess I can put up with the odd iffy one now and then.

Ray

[Graeme]

I get the very same thing so we tend to stick with the same day/time. we find fridays and saturdays can be the worst days. however on a wed you get a bad meal because the chef is off ! take outs are down to 1 a month now they smell far far better than they taste. The last 4 years I have been playing with cooking indian food on the BBQ and the results are very good, thanks to everyone who has helped me over the last 30 years. yup it has taken that long :-) hot breads from the BBQ served with tikka and peppers/onions are a great treat for friends I serve the main course sizzling with the breads painted with a mix of butter and gee (with/without garlic) hot from the BBQ :-) the above simple tasty food gives you an idea why we dont buy many take aways now. The quality as george suggests is hit and miss and as prices have gone up quality control has gone down the pan.

[Stephen Lindsay]

The difference was so significant, I can't help wonder if the different chefs do their own thing with, effectively, different 'recipes' and mixes/quantities of ingredients.

I think that's a good point then it must point to something about how the establishment is run cause it's basically a quality control issue. It's bit like the old joke about ordering a car made on a Friday afternoon and the bits starts falling off. We used to have that, it was called British Leyland.

[Secret Santa]

I think it's a combination of both things, i.e. who cooks your curry and how busy they are.

When Maliks' webcam first started I watched it quite a lot and it was quite obvious that the same effort was not made for each curry when they were busy. While a curry might get a minute or so of initial frying and a good seven or eight minutes of reduction time once the base was added when they weren't busy, this would reduce to lob everything into the pan, straight in with the base sauce, and reduce for four or five minutes when they had five or six curries on the go.

Clearly the taste is going to be different for each method. Add to that slight (or not so slight) differences when made by different chefs and there's your answer.

[gazman1976]

Very interesting point guys and gals

i have an interesting suggestion for all in the uk, why dont you buy your fav dish and mail it to each other and experiment that way as taste and regional differentation comes into play - for example i might think my takeaway does the best madras - but 1 of you might have a much better takeaway and it would be good to taste diff sample - ie: i would buy a madras curry and courier it to u and you would do the same lol

[George]

Very interesting point guys and gals

i have an interesting suggestion for all in the uk, why dont you buy your fav dish and mail it to each other and experiment that way as taste and regional differentation comes into play - for example i might think my takeaway does the best madras - but 1 of you might have a much better takeaway and it would be good to taste diff sample - ie: i would buy a madras curry and courier it to u and you would do the same lol

This is a good idea and one that also occurred to me some time ago.