The Curry Crawl

Clifton catches the eye with it's striking decor, none more so than the raised wooden frieze on the walls. Expectations were high based on its inclusion on the master list of "must try" curry houses, and the overall feedback from the rest of the group seemed positive.

Inevitably a big part of the challenge is on ordering well, and after a flawless start (3 bottles of Cobra), things became a little less spectacular. The spciy popadum had an above-average kick to it which, while not a problem in itself, was unexpected. The lamb chop grill starter lacked the "words fail me" impact that can be experienced elsewhere, although the chicken and lamb tikkas were as tender as one could have Wished for. The duck tikka struck me as being a little too dry, and the sheek kebab would have benefited from further infusion of herbs.

It was at the main course, however, that the error in ordering was most evident. Strangely, the dish that I chose does not feature on their website, where most of the menu can be seen (and, supposedly, pre-ordered), and this may be deliberate. The description sounded encouraging, promising a whole spring chicken cooked in ginger and spices, served in a thick sauce and topped with a fried egg. Let's be honest, faced with the offer of an egg on top, how could I refuse? The fried egg turned out in the end to be an omelette, and a thin and tasteless one at that. As for the sauce, whilst acknowedging it was marketed as thick, its main attribute was in prompting a wry chuckle with the reminder of the immortal Tony Hancock line: "I thought my mother was a bad cook, but at least her gravy moved about....!".

Overall for me, 6 out of 10, although I suspect my fellow diners would score it higher. Service was ok, although the waiters had a habit of being easily distracted when in the middle of serving or settling the bill - 6 out of 10. Blowback factor, on the other hand, scores an 8, which may be revised upwards as more establishments are tested...

One final obversation - their website offers an online booking service which re-directs you to a website called cuisinenet. This is an utter waste of time - I received an acknowledgement email with the caveat that this was not confirmation of the booking, and was informed the restaurant would call to confirm my booking. This call was not forthcoming. At 8.30 on a Tuesday evening, getting a table was not a problem.

Bring on Round 2!!