There is nothing quite like rambling through the English countryside and then stopping at a traditional and authentic Indian restaurant.
Located in the Old Saxon Canal side Village of Stoke Bruerne, in Northamptonshire, the Spice of Bruerne provides a fresh and flavourful alternative to the local pubs. The family-run restaurant is spaced over two contemporary designed floors with a fantastic large window at the front of the restaurant that allows you to take in the beauty of the canal whilst tucking into your curry.
The vast choices of dishes on offer tempt you to sample a bit more than just the standard Korma and Masala. With starters that are daring yet delicious such as Chicken Pakora with its blend of chilli powder and turmeric, or Suka Aash which is a great combination of succulent duck in a sweet tamarind sauce. You are spoilt for choice with the fusion of rich Asian spices that continue into the main courses. The Chicken Silsila is marinated and then slowly cooked in Silsila sauce for extra flavour and the Nalli Ghosht (a lamb dish seasoned with peanut, red chillies, garlic and lime) were delicious and rightly so with them being amongst the favourites at this cracking restaurant.
As well as the Chicken Silsila and Nalli Ghosht we also had Chicken Chat, and I decided to be daring and go for a Chicken Dansak, with my personal favourite a peshwari naan and Bindi Bhajee. The food was absolutely beautiful, attractively presented and there was plenty of it.
Overall a cracking curry house which also delivers if you fancy curling up on the sofa with a couple of Cobras and a DVD.
Tags: Chicken Curry, restaurant, review, Take Away
Posted in Restaurants, Take Away |
This week we decided to treat ourselves with a visit to The Cinnamon Club in Westminster, and what a treat it was!
Set in the stunning surroundings of the Grade II listed Old Westminster Library, The Cinnamon Club is certainly a step up from my local curry house. The wood panelled main dining room is dripping with original features including a book-lined gallery running around the room. There is also a private dining room, mezzanine floor and library bar that could be used for parties and celebrations.
Whilst all this is wonderful, it is important not to judge a book by its cover – one of my favourite places to eat on Brick Lane is also one of the scruffiest looking.
According to the blurb on the website The Cinnamon Club’s ethos has been to revolutionise the way Indian cooking is viewed in the UK. Executive Chef Vivek Singh oversees a brigade of chefs to deliver the very best modern Indian cuisine that goes beyond authenticity.
I think it’s fair to say that Vivek’s recipes certainly go the extra mile! Depending on the seasonality of ingredients, dishes might include starters such as rabbit tikka with dill, mustard and hot garlic chutney; or Norwegian king crab and tamarind salad with cured organic salmon and rasam jelly. Main courses might feature roast saddle of ‘Oisin’ red deer with pickling spices; and pan char grilled halibut with green pea and potato crush yoghurt ‘Kadhi’.
When I was there I had the Tandoori chicken thighs with garlic and fennel for starter and the pan-seared duck breast with sesame and tamarind sauce for main. It will go down as one of my top 5 Indian meals ever and that includes several I had in India last year! The food was beautifully presented and came with a real sense of occasion, on top of that, it also tasted incredible, each mouthful taking me back to my travels but surprising me with some unique tastes that you wouldn’t normally associate with an Indian restaurant – a fantastic combo. My friend and I certainly had plenty to discuss and for once, unlike Smithy, I was ok with sharing my choices!
Would I go again? Try and stop me, it was brilliant!
Tags: Cinnamon Club, Cinnamon Kitch, Cobra, curry, London, restaurant, review, Vivek Singh
Posted in Restaurants |
Here at Cobra we love anything that encourages people to eat more curry – whether that’s trying great recipes, enjoying excellent takeaways, visiting top Curry houses, the lot. So, when the guys at CurryCouncil.com let us know about their Restaurant of the Year Awards we just had to tell you know about them.
The CurryCouncil.com’s annual award honours the best restaurants in the Manchester area, as voted by their members. Finalists were chosen from a list of eleven South-Manchester-based restaurants and visited by the CurryCouncil in 2009. Each restaurant was then rated in the following areas: atmosphere, value for money, originality and most of all; exemplarily food and service. A complete list of contenders is available here.
This year’s winner is (drum roll please)…. The Purple Pakora, in Poynton, Stockport. David Marchbank-Smith, co-founder of CurryCouncil.com, paid tribute: “The awards are designed to recognize the very best Indian restaurants in the South Manchester region. The team at the Purple Pakora have created a stylish contemporary dining arena which is complemented with exemplary food and a high standard of service. ”
Check out their site for more reviews, recipes and other great curry news!
Tags: awards, Cobra, curry, Curry Council, Purple Pakora, review
Posted in Restaurants |
I always think it’s best to go with a recommendation for a restaurant. My good friend Judy suggested Rasa Samudra, a Keralan Restaurant on Charlotte Street and coming from someone who spent 6 months in India you’d hope it was a good suggestion.
The place is incredibly easy to find (mainly because it is the only pink restaurant I know of) right at the start of Charlotte Street (Oxford Street end – nearest Tube Tottenham Court Road). As you walk through the doors you are greeted by warm friendly staff who’ll show you to your table. There are two parts to the restaurant, the front part which is mainly made up of tables of twos and fours and the back part which is for larger groups.
Upon being seated we were given the menus and ordered two bottles of Cobra which arrived ice cold and quickly – important when the choice on the menu so diverse. The menu was fantastic, despite spending an awful lot of time eating curry many of the dishes were new to me and the choice was excellent, enough that there is something for everyone yet not so much that you’re drowned in choice.
The menu is predominantly fish and vegetarian food as it is Kerala so the authenticity is clearly high. In the end my friend and I went for the following:
Konju Manga Curry: King prawns cooked with turmeric, chillies, green mango and coconut
Kappayum Meenum: King fish cooked in a sauce made from onions, fried chillies, turmeric and ginger and cassava.
Paratha: A Kerala specialty – wheat dough layered and coiled into a coir mat shape then cooked on the griddle.
Lemon rice and Coconut rice
It’s hard to know where to start really – both dishes were incredibly tasty and showed perfectly how Indian food is so much more than just hot spicy food. The flavours for each dish despite sharing many of the same ingredients were completely different. The Konju Manga was incredibly creamy and has many subtle flavours accentuated by the plump perfectly cook prawns and coconut rice (which according to the waiter was the correct match for the curry). Once we’d cleansed our palettes with a couple of mouthfuls of Cobra we started on the Kappayum Meenum. I’ve not tried King Fish for a while and had forgotten how dense and fishy it is. The sauce cut through this fantastically and the extra spice reminded me of curries from Northern India.
One of the surprises of the evening was without a doubt the Paratha. I was expecting something a like a chapatti but actually ended up with a savoury pancake type thing… Whatever it was like it was delicious, doughy yet light, absorbent yet never soggy. If you only go to Rasa for one thing make sure it’s for that!
So overall what would I give it? 9/10 definitely. The menu was incredibly diverse and I’ll be back to try the rest of the dishes without a doubt – I suffered some serious food envy!
Tags: Cobra, curry, Kerala, London, restaurant, review
Posted in Restaurants |
