Is a curry a curry?

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Isn't that kind of the point?

In the UK, we get UK curries

I don't for one second expect to walk into a restaurant in down town Bangalore and see a chicken tikka masla on the menu

So what we end up with is something tailored to the British taste.

I do suspect in recent years the demand for more "authentic" sub continental cuisine has risen but I can't help feeling that most "curry houses" are still stuck in the mindset of lads going for a Ruby after many many pints of lager on a Saturday night.

nabby

Spot on. And this is why I avoid your standard "curry house".

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But you make it sound as if a British curry is a bad thing

There is such a thing as a good British Curry although I suspect if you actually come from or have roots in some of the countries we have talked about you may well disagree

Rawschach

i think the food at akbars is good but it is too busy with too many people crammed in which spoils things a bit

mumtaz i have never understood why it is so popular, their food is average imo

there used to be a far better restaurant on Great Horton Road just below mumtaz, Chowdreys it was called and the food was the best i have ever had but it was never very busy and it shut down.  I could never understand why people would wait ages at Mumtaz for a table when literally 5 mins down the same road there was a nicer place with better food.

This seems a pattern - every time we find somewhere really good it closes or gets new owners (Red Chill 3 on Leeds Road is another example)

I agree that the food is the most important thing - if you can recommend anywhere Ayub ??

Paprika was decent when we went there, 3 Singhs was nice enough, Syhiba and Kiplings are probably the best ones we have been to in the Halifax / Sowerby Bridge area.

Being a Bulls fan i have to recommend Omar Khans!!

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When we lived in Huddersfield many years ago, we went through a phase where every time we thought we had found a decent takeaway, it was shut down by environmental health

nabby

If that's the way it comes across then that's not my intention.

I love a good CTM as the next man but too many places offer a choice of:
Chicken
Lamb
Prawn
Fish
King Prawn
Mixed Vegetables
in your choice of sauce from 8 or 10 on the menu. That's cooking by numbers.

The best curry house experience I've had is food from a place in Dalkeith near Edinburgh where my parents-in-law live. We often get a takeaway (sorry, should be called a carryout ) from there and the food is very good.

But I much prefer my more authentic South Indian dosa place or my Gujurati vegetarian food place or my Northwest Indian/Pakistani place that is good for meat and naan and traditional Punjabi food. And there's no shortage of those types of places near to where I live in South London.

kendun

I wouldn't have a curry at a takeaway normally as I tend to have that at home most days

If I wanted what I consider is traditional south Indian food, the places I frequent are Saravana Bhavan or chennai dosa in London and more recently chennai dosa in Altrincham ...

If I do go to an Asian takeaway, it's normally after a night out  when I am stumbling home and I do get a lamb bhuna/ jalfrezi or whatever ask them to make it spicy

Piscauk

I lived in Bradford both 30 years ago as a baby and 13 years ago as a student, which places were you thinking of?

In Bradford, I really liked Omar's down by the Alhambra (not sure it still exists). It didnt seem anything special, but was always super tasty. Conversely, I didnt really get on with the Kashmir on Morley St; whilst I was told it was very authentic, which I had to take at face value, the food just didnt pop out at me and was little tastier than the curry I do myself. It wasnt the presentation either, i.e. in plain bowls, shabby tables just the actual food itself.

In all honesty, even going to places with the lads from work who were local fellas, I cant say Bradford ever really delivered any curry better than other towns or cities in the UK.


My favourite curry was from a place called the Spice of Bengal, Ambleside. Appalling service, freezing cold restaurant. But with the finest lamb jalfrezi I had ever experienced, mainly as it was simply unlike any other I had ever had. And tasted so much fresher than anything I could even make myself; which is ultimately what it comes down to, making it worthwhile going to the restaurant for an experience you cannot get elswhere.

Wahreo

Last time I went to my local Restaurant they had water dripping from the ceiling as the basin waste in the flat above had sprung a leak. It didnt bother my Wife and I in the slightest as we have built up a rapport with the owners and know they are good people but above all the food is superb yet the cost is reasonable.

If I go somewhere where the food is really bad then I will tell them when they come to ask during the meal.

If the food is ok but not quite right then at the end of the meal I will mention it politely.

I see no reason to just eat the meal and pay for your food but then bitch about the quality the whole journey home.

Bl4ckGryph0n

Exactly I let them know if it isn't right, how else can they correct it. However if it still isn't at the respond attempt I'm gone. I also hate overly friendly place, I'm not there to chat to them, I'm there with my my guests so leave me alone and serve please.

Curry wise (in the broadest sense of the category), although I haven't been in a while the times I've been to La Porte des Indes in London have been really really good. I also quite like veeraswamy, great foot, and lovely discreet service. But for very different experience Tayyabs in whitechapel does it for me based upon their food. I can't stand the slumming feel of bring your own booze and go into a local off license to get your own beer/wine but hey the food is lovely albeit service is rushed.