The Curry Crawl

Nige glanced at his watch. There was no doubt about it. Bear would be propping up the bar within the next five minutes, and there was no way (barring immediate and successful introduction of Star Trek “Beam me up Scotty” technology) that Nige could get there to meet him. Desperate times called for desperate measures. As rallying calls go, there are few to rival it. Sadly, measures came there none. With a forlorn shrug of the shoulders Nige donned his overcoat, wincing in annoyance as he jabbed his thumb on the pin securing his poppy to his lapel. It had all the hallmarks of another dreary November evening – a couple of pints in an over-crowded pub served by disinterested bar staff, then a walk through the rain to an identikit curry house for a tired-looking chicken tikka masala then not the sniff of a cab in the late evening drizzle.

Little did he know……

Early indications were not encouraging. Bear proffered a £20 note in exchange for two pints of foaming ale (ok, one pint was foaming, the other was fizzy lager) and was presented with about 5 quid in shrapnel in change. Much has been made in the press recently about the returning threat of inflation but this was undoubtedly a surprise. If the MPC held their Christmas party in the Pontefract Castle, we’d be reading about a different set of minutes, no mistake. On the plus side, Dicky received the message about the change in venue and was with us in good time, such that we were able to move on to dinner without over-indulging in excess beerage beforehand. Remind me to check with my lawyer about the definition of excess….

A short cab ride took our intrepid adventurers to the Bombay Palace. The place is immediately impressive because it looks full from the outside, even though it turned out to have plenty of capacity. That nothwithstanding, they did still check whether we had a reservation, to which we had to confess in the negative. A quick glance around the restaurant provided the first of many positive signs – there were a substantial number of Indian diners in the restaurant. In curry-crawlers’ parlance this is deemed to be a good sign. The popadoms arrived without prompting (unless Dicky ordered them – I forgot to ask him) and the menu offered plenty of choice. I couldn’t resist the starter called Bombay Tiffin which didn’t disappoint, other than that Sid James didn’t appear at any stage in the proceedings. Round two was a Duck dish whose name eludes me, but whose taste didn’t disappoint. Sneak previews of Bear’s lamb chops and Dicky’’ leg of lamb were equally memorable (even though I can’t remember the name of my dish). For control purposes we ordered a Mutter Paneer for which they charged us the best part of a tenner, or a little under two pints of Cobra at their own exchange rate. Tasted ok, but I was left with the sense that the chef was less interested in the “off menu” dish as opposed to the fare he was advertising in the menu.

Overall, very good – 8 out of 10 for both food and service. Filing this report early, so unable to report on blow-back factor, although I cannot help feeling sorry for Bungle for the role she has unwittingly undertaken…..

The mantle passes to the Dickster, although I think we forgot to hand the list over to him in the cab….Never mind

Hats off to Derek for a fin recommendation!

# posted by EleAid @ 12:56 am