Curryosity

In the days of Groupon, (other online restaurant offers are also available) it would have been easy to leave a pre-purchased night at Curryosity languishing in my inbox. In an already well represented market, the curry and grill restaurant, inspired by traditional tastes of Pakistan and North India, appears to have little out of the ordinary to offer. So it was with low expectation, that my dining companion and I approached Curryosity, on a cold and drizzly April evening.

 

From the outside, the restaurant fails to impress.  Curryosity’s giant windows, set high above the pavement, only appear to showcase what looked to be a very bland interior. My suspicions were confirmed once inside the restaurant, where the lack of curb appeal is indeed matched by a most uninspiring dining space. The walls, untroubled by pictures, are painted a shade which could only be described as landlord magnolia. The faux leather chairs and wooden tables look like they have been bought from the nearest bargain furniture warehouse and the untended bar, and oversized intrusive TV all help to complete the downbeat look. However, the proof of a good pudding (mine’s a gaajar halwa please) is always in the eating, so I tried to keep an open mind.

After giving our drinks orders to possibly the most polite and professional waitress I have ever met, we began to consider our eating options for the evening. Overly large menus, common in Indian restaurants, can sometimes overwhelm, so I was glad that Curryosity had done some of the work for me. In addition to the starters, the main menu is limited to 20 or so dishes, all of which have been helpfully categorized under 5 main headings, chicken, lamb, seafood, vegetarian and specials.  For each dish there is a succinct description of what to expect, which I found very useful. With our taste buds tingling from the obligatory poppadum’s and pickles, everything from the menu seemed to tempt us. We therefore ordered Chicken Sizzler (£4.50) and Paneer Tandori (£4.10) for our starters, a special called Haleem-7 Seas (£7.90) and Daal Makhani (£6.50) for our main and plain rice and Peshwari naan as accompaniments.          

 

Our first starter arrived on a sizzling skillet of onions, announcing itself to the ears and not just the nose. Four generous squares of firm, creamy pieces of baked cheese, spiced to perfection with that unmistakable tandoori blend, had great texture and great flavor.  The second starter was equally as good.  Served with chunks of charred red pepper and onion, salad, dips and lemon segments, the joyously tender pieces of chicken breasts had taken on all the flavours of its marinade and had been cooked to perfection.  All the chickens juicy goodness happily combined with the sweet, caramelized vegetables on the plate, to create another perfect little starter.  Things were beginning to look up (as long as you didn’t actually look up)!

 

The main courses were equally enjoyable, with the Haleem-7 seas dish earning a gold star.  The meat stew popular in Persian, Turkish and Pakistani cuisine, contains 7 different ingredients including wheat, lentils and lamb.  Brought to us in an unusual arrow shaped dish, the curry had a think, soup-like consistency.  The lamb (and other ingredients) were shredded, so you can’t really decipher what exactly is in the dish.  However, it was clear from the tasting, the 7 ingredients used had all been carefully selected and wonderfully combined to achieve a perfectly balanced and original curry.  I particularly liked the influence the Middle East appeared to have on the dish, detecting cinnamon and similar spices which brought sweetness and an extra dimension to the curry. As suggested in the menu, the Haleem went particularly well with naan bread.  Not only did the naan allow you to mop up every last inch of the sauce, but being thinner than other naan breads it had a lovely crispy top in places, which introduced a crunch and a much needed contrast of texture.  Our other main, Daal Makhani, was rich, buttery and wholesome but perhaps wasn’t the best accompaniment to the Haleem.  Both were wet curries.  If we had chosen two different styles of curries the meal overall would have defiantly been improved.  No points deducted for Curriosity though, that was our mistake not theirs.

 

So after demolishing our poppadums, starters and main courses, we were (not surprisingly) too full to have desert and so opted for a Chai tea instead.  This was a shame because Curryosity have gone to the trouble of expanding their dessert menu beyond the usual selection of ice-creams to include several tempting authentic Indian desserts.  It would be worth remembering that for next time I visit, if indeed there is a next time….

 

So onto the scores!  All in all we had a good experience at Curryosity.  The service was excellent.  The menu is well thought out, well presented and includes some interesting and original specials.  The portions are generous and the cooking is clearly the work of a knowledgeable and experienced chef. The one major drawback for me is the restaurant itself and the lack of atmosphere within it.  However, while the interior may be bland, the food most certainly is not and on this basis Curryosity is definitely worth another visit.

 

Service 4/5

Food 4/5
Atmosphere 2/5
Value 4/5

Total 14/20       

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