90% of Lordship lane curries all taste the same

[MrBen]

There. I've said it.

I can tell my Ardbeg from a Laphroig so I don't think I'm completely senseless.

But apart from Tandoori Nights and Bombay Bicycle Club can anyone (other than Michael P) really tell the difference between Surma/Dulwich Tandoori/Pistachio Club/Mirash/Jafflong offerings? Am I alone in thinking they all taste much the same?

[SeanMacGabhann]

A point quids often makes and with which I concur

[Mick Mac]

I'm glad you separated out Tandoori Nights, Mr Ben. Was about to jump on the case to defend them as being better.

But I guess Curry Club members are best placed to review all.

[Michael Palaeologus]

Well sort of, I think that Jaflong is a bit different.

Mirash is the epitome of traditional curry house and my favourite of old; however they are pretty much the same; it just depends what your own personal tastes are; as the best part of 2 years worth of curry club meetings have evidenced.

[silverfox]

Are you a large man Mr Ben, ie should you be paying more to use the bus?

Fair play to you, if you've tasted 90% of all the curries available on Lordship Lane I salute you.

[SeanMacGabhann]

I wish I was as svelte as MrBen

surely anyone living in the are for more than a year or two and a prediliction for curries will have tried them all at one stage?

[silverfox]

Every curry house yes, but not 90% of all the dishes offered on each of their menus. But if Mr Ben is svelte then maybe comparing 500-odd dishes is the way to go - beats Gillian McKeith's fare hands down every time for me.

[Michael Palaeologus]

I have eaten about 80% of the choices on the menus of the curry houses of Lordship Lane (I dont like fish) and can confirm that they are quite similar.

[silverfox]

Fair play to you Michael

[Keef]

I think if you order any of the classic dishes, it is much the same wherever you go. I always look for the house specials.

[MrBen]

Yep- to be clear I've not tried 90% of all dishes on all curry houses - as most have about 50 odd choices variants on the menu but I've tried most places at least once and like for like there's nothing to choose beteween them....you may as well roll a dice. Why go to any particular one?

Keef - you are getting to the crux of it. A USP. Tandoori nights differs in that it seems less fatty, fresher and tastes better. It also seems to do better by conciously NOT having a delivery service?

[Jeremy]

I do agree that Tandoori Nights is good, and that the majority are almost indistinguishable from each other.

But I do think that Pistachio Club is a cut above most of them.

[SimonM]

You only have to look at Babur's menu (the restaurant though, not the takeaway/home delivery) to see how the LL establishments are practically clones of each other... I have this fancy that at dead of night a huge tanker, like a petrol tanker, inches slowly along LL, stopping at intervals to connect a thick black rubber hose to each curry house and pump a fresh week's supply of "Basic Indian Sauce" into their basements....

[Keef]

Even Babur isn't that special IMO. Yes the meat seems much much better quality, but I found it disappointing in general.

[Sue]

Dare I mention Ganapati :)

Completely different to anything on Lordship Lane, thank God :)

[????]

When the Curry Club does an away day to Tayabs I'M IN

[Michael Palaeologus]

Tandoori Nights also differentiates itself through its higher prices; because higher prices mean better food.

Obviously.

[karter]

Dulwich Tandoori have been voted best indian restaurant by Living South magazine.

[woofmarkthedog]

"Silk Road" in Camberwell has just got my vote

NOT Indian I know BUT very different Chinese & OOoooooh spicy

Agree the curry houses do taste mainly the same

W**F

[rainbow]

I'm with you Sue, Ganapati is top. You can actually taste all the fresh ingredients,even their ice cream are home made.

That it, curries it will be lunch tomorrow

[HAL9000]

I've completed a training course in Anglo-Indian-style curry and tandoor cooking at a leading Indian restaurant in London.

Of course the dishes all taste the same - they are made to the same (secret) recipes passed down from Bangladeshi chefs to their apprentices throughout the country.

Ever wondered how any dish from over 100 menu choices can be prepared within five to seven minutes? It's because they are all made from a handful of basic, pre-cooked ingredients that are assembled in an iron skillet and fried at high temperature until the oil separates from the sauce.

A typical curry house uses only six spices: coriander, cumin, paprika, turmeric, cayenne (chilli) pepper and black pepper and three or four aromatics: malabathrum (Indian bay leaf), cinnamon, cardamom and star anise. The rest is mainly onions, bell peppers, garlic, ginger, desiccated coconut, almond powder and tomato paste. Korma and massala dishes are thickened with single cream (UHT LongLife).

Balti dishes are the same as regular dishes with a tablespoonful of Patak?s Balti Curry paste.

As for "fresh ingredients" ? virtually every Anglo-Indian restaurant in London gets its supplies from a handful of Bangladeshi-owned cash-and-carry warehouses in Bermondsey and East London. All meat, fish and seafood is frozen.

Incidentally, the staff would rather die than eat the food they serve to customers - the chefs prepare genuine Bangladeshi curries for the staff's end-of-day meal!

[Sue]

:-S

[PeckhamRose]

What an education we get here! Thanks for that!

A mate used to live in Southall and taught me the trick that you should only go to the little restaurants you see the locals going to. Same can be said for Chinese and so on.

I don't have a sophisticated experienced enough palate to know the best Indian food, but this thread has taught me alot!

Must try Ganapati since everyone creams over it...

[Michael Palaeologus]

... and , at least in the early days, many of the Chefs came from the same area of Bangladesh and so shared the same basic recipes.

Still, the food tastes good. I cant help thinking that an expectation that they can serve the quantities that they do and hand prepare all from fresh ingredients is a tad naive.

[Brendan]

MrBen Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Tandoori nights differs in that it seems less

> fatty, fresher and tastes better.

Because they use olive oil instead of ghee innit.