The Pryordurkins

Posts Tagged ‘indian’

Hearing about the success of this new film at the Golden Globes award ceremony (the one where Kate Winslet made a meal of her acceptance speech) we booked up to go see it at the Vue Cinema in York.  The Vue chain of cinemas has recently started to show films to over 18’s only regardless of the film classification itself.  We quite like this idea if it keeps the noise down in the auditorium so you can watch the film in peace.  So it was last night.  The cinema was nice and quiet and although it was not full, had a reasonable amount of punters for a Tuesday night.  The film started and you quickly realise the story centres around how Jamal Malik knows the answers to the questions on an Indian Who Wants to be a Millionaire program that he finds himself appearing in.

It is a very clever intelligent film and with each answer, the film cuts back to the events in young Jamal’s life that went to so vividly imprint on his memory the information he recalled in answering the questions.

There was a little humour, a little violence, quite a depressing depiction of life in the slums of India and a well written script brought to life in a very well directed cinematic picture.  Directed by Danny Boyle and Co Directed by Lovelean Tandan, I enjoyed it very much.  I think Paul liked it to, but for those who know him, it is often difficult to get anything other than ‘It was OK’ when asking about films he has just seen.

Pryordurkin rating 4 stars.

It’s been a pretty fast paced week that ended with me picking Paul up from York Railway station last night at 10.00pm.  Paul had been into London on some science people type meet up.  Earlier in the week, I had been into London for a couple of meetings and a couple of Jollys.  We’ve also welcomed a new review to the Pryordurkin website from my fellow diner and friend Sticky T (read it here).   We’re still waiting for our Australian correspondent to submit her first review!

Before Paul got back last night I took the opportunity while he was away to put up some tacky flashing Christmas lights outside the house.  A nice blue LED lit doorway awaited his return.  Those who know him well can only imagine the look on his face.  It was priceless and worth every penny I spent at Barnitts buying them.

Having a fairly leisurely start to the day this morning, while Paul was ignoring me by playing with Lara Croft downstairs (the game – for those who don’t know Paul!), I found myself stumbling across some good music on BBC Radio Three and enjoying it for the next hour or so.  I remembered while listening that the general rule of thumb when it comes to getting old in England is that you start life by listening to Radio One, move onto Radio Two when you hit your thirties.  This is then followed when you reach middle age by becoming an avid BBC Radio Four listener telling your friends and colleagues it’s for the news and comedy only.  The final stage before you order the box that will take you into the ground is listening to BBC Radio Three and being intolerant of noise, children, the general public and basically anyone who gets in your way when walking on a pavement, into a post office or queueing at Marks and Spencer for a little treat.

Those who know me, will realise that this brief encounter with BBC Radio Three is just that because I have never displayed any of the other aforementioned symptons.

Livingston nestles just outside Edinburgh. It is a cold and soulless place. Cold both physically and in appearance; soulless as the corpses in the council graveyard. A concrete shopping centre nestles in this town – a cold and soulless centre that is not out of place in its surroundings. In fact, there is nothing here but the shopping centre. And in a corner of this place nestles an Indian restaurant. Not, I should say, the archetypal Indian restaurant, but of a style more akin to the MacDonald’s next door – the Drive-In MacDonald’s next door. Mind you, the furniture was different: not slatted wooden benches but moulded plastic chairs. Yes, those you used to have at school in the seventies. And laminate tables.

I ordered safely – an onion bhaji, chicken korma, pilau rice and popadoms. The bhaji came in ten minutes.  It was flat. Indeed, it came in two halves, both flat, skirting a piece of limp lettuce, yesterday’s tomato and a slice of cucumber.  The main attraction were the two dip-in bowls of fluid. One was pink – shocking pink – and lived up to its colour.  It tasted roughly of vinegar and strawberry sherbets. The other was white and made no pretence about only tasting of the vinegar.  The bhaji was warm. I give it 1/2 (half) out of 5 purely on the basis that it survived the microwave. The plate for my curry came shortly after.  If it had been warm, which I doubt, it wasn’t now.  Ten minutes later the korma, rice and popadoms appeared. The korma looked yellow as normal; the rice looked similar to the fine gravel at the bottom of a fish tank. Unfortunately the korma was the most bland and soulless korma I have ever come across. Perhaps it, too, was getting in on the soulless act that defined its surroundings. No hint of coconut. Indeed, no hint of anything at all. Ugh!  I didn’t finish it and made no excuse about getting the bill and leaving fast.  And the restaurant had been recommended to me by my Scottish taxi driver! I should have known better.  After all, wasn’t Scotland the home of that most English of Indian cuisine, the tikka masala?

I give it an overall score of 1 out of 5. Why 1? Well, I had laughed when I first saw the shocking shocking pink dip. And I felt a warm glow inside me on leaving – a heartening feeling that the next one just had to be better.

Pryordurkin rating 1 Star.  Tel 01506 416622

Still extensively suffering from my man flu (but you won’t hear me complain) it was a slow start to the weekend on Saturday.  I did eventually summon the energy to get out of my jim jams and head into town with Paul for lunch.  We decided to return to the Indian Lounge on Swinegate (read original review) and it was just as good.  A hot spicy curry was great for my man flu and with the sparkling water (no alcohol allowed) it was pleasant indeed.  Finishing up we headed around the shops where Paul bought the latest brain teasing game for the Nintendo DS Lite.  Professor Layton and the Curious Village is a ditty little game that you might think will be easy.  I can definitely say it isn’t.  Paul has been trying to complete the puzzles for the last twenty four hours only interrupted briefly by seven hours sleep and a spot of Strictly Come Dancing.    Sunday will see me doing a little catch up work before heading back to London this evening as I have a full and busy week ahead.  Thankfully with this game, I’m not sure he will notice I’ve gone

Last night having returned to Cambridge from London, we wanted to revisit The Gulshan for reasons of Nostalgia.  This was a favourite Indian Restaurant of ours when Dusty and I lived in Cambridge and our record of arriving, having Poppadoms, a Starter, a Main and a pint of Kingfisher and leaving was 27 minutes.  We hoped to better that this time. 

We arrived to discover our Gulshan has been taken over and is now called the Curry Garden.  We noted the decoration inside is still just as dodgy as we sat at our favourite table in the window.  Noticing this time that the table leans inwards ever so slightly; which after a few beers could be a disorientating.

Anyway the usual was ordered up,  Poppadoms, Onion Bhaji, Chicken Dhansak/Jalfrezi and two pints. 

We didn’t quite beat our 27 minute record but the food was very good.  Everything was fresh and they (unlike many other places we have tried) do use real chicken breast.

Rating.  3 Stars

We took the opportunity to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crysta Skull released on May 22 2008.  Directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Harrison Ford and Cate Blanchett we were introduced to a new actor called Shia LaBeouf.  We were not sure whether it would work given the number of years that had past since the last and the fact that Harrison is now 65, but to my surprise it did.  The usual fantastical story lines were in evidence, along with moments of humour wrapped around a good old fast moving adventure.  A splendid couple of hours all in all, although to be fair, Dusty and I differ on this in that he said he was bored.  To those who know Dusty, though, this will not come as any surprise!

Score: 3 Stars. Seen May 08

We’d had a long day touring Bath with Christine, Graham, Jessica and Marissa and were ready for a good evening meal that didn’t require too much walking back into town from the hotel we were staying at.  The Bombay Nights Nepalese and Indian Restaurant was on Lower Bristol Road, opposite our hotel, so seemed the perfect choice.  Our only slight concern was whether Jessica and Marissa who had never eaten this type of food before would be up for trying something new.

We arrived at around 8pm and were quickly seated by the smart and cheerful staff.  We went for a variety of traditional Indian dishes between us and for the kids, ordered up a mild korma which proved to be very popular indeed.  Without any problem, the kids wolfed it back with the plain boiled rice the accompanied it.  Drinks wise, Dusty , Graham and Christine went for Cobra, while I opted for a french house red, which was very drinkable indeed.  The only noticeable issue we had at the restaurant was the fire alarm kept going off at the start of the meal.  We were assured this was because of some over excited cooking that caused the smoke detectors to activate, but this was quickly resolved and never effected a very pleasant evening which was had by all.

The food was very well cooked with good attention to detail.  Good ingredients had clearly been used and the sauces were not too overpowering as to hide the meat or vegetable dishes served.  The window of this restaurant proudly displays a number of awards it has won and we agreed at the end of the night, that they were justified.

A great Indian restaurant with happy, friendly and professional staff.

Score: 3 Stars. Visited May 2008

A working lunch was called for today and with a colleague I arrived at this small Indian Restaurant in Drummond Street, London at around 12.30 noon.  The place wasn’t that busy when we arrived and having been seated our order was quickly taken.  This was good because we only had about an hour before having to be back at HQ for a meeting.  By the time our food arrived, the place was starting to fill up, so clearly we had timed this right.  The meal itself was pleasant, nothing special but fine for a quick lunch time meal.  Certainly made a change from the pretentious and expensive sandwich usually picked up at Pret a Manger on Regents Square.

Score. 3 Stars. Visited May 2008

Tel: 08719611892

Ahead of the Theatre we decided to try the recently opened Indian Lounge on Swinegate in York. What used to be a old vegetarian restaurant has been transformed into a chic modern restaurant serving traditional Indian cuisine. We arrived at 6pm and were the first to be seated. The tables were very well laid with crisp clean linen, contemporary glasses and yes Proper Linen Napkins. Yea….. It was a good start.

As we sat we did notice though how the chairs slide ever so slightly on the new wooden floors and this continued throughout our meal. Lean on the table and you will see what we mean. Of course if you follow the advice from your Mum, which was never put your arms on the table or lean on it, then you will be fine.

Anyway back to the job in hand. We ordered up a couple of pints of Cobra and these were quickly served along with fresh crisp poppadoms and a variety of dips. Having ordered our mains, the menu seemed to have a southern indian feel about it, we settled back to listen to the Indian music and for a while I was amused by the Indian dance videos playing on a large screen at one end of the restaurant. I could get into this Indian Dance video genre. The blokes were fit!

The food arrived and it was served on nicely warmed plates. The flavours came through on each dish and it seemed to have been cooked with an eye for detail. My Murg Tikka Sag was very good indeed and Dusty enjoyed his Murg Dopiaza.

We finished off our drinks and were very surprised when the bill came. Our Cobra was only £2 a pint and the rest of the food brought the total bill in for two people at £28. Great value for good food served in modern stylish surroundings.

Score: 3 Stars. Visited March 08.

Tel: 01904 639918

It had been a long day at work and with some colleagues we ventured out into Croydon for something different to the usual Croydan Park Hotel Buffet. Having booked a table for 7pm we arrived just after 7.30 and were seated straight away. I had to ask the waiter to take my coat and he looked just a little put out but I let it pass. The table was small but thankfully had decent napkins. Regular readers will know just how much I hate those paper napkins usually served in cafes and restaurants.

We looked through the menus and they were very well laid out. They even had an index and some text apologising for the recent price increases. What was also quite good was that they gave an indication to the overall price you would pay for a typical meal that included a bottle of wine for two. At around £25 – £30, I thought this was refreshingly honest.

The orders placed we engaged in the relaxing and necessary ritual cliche based conversation, that is so common at these work events. The beer was flowing though and soon the conversation moved up the communication triangle we had learnt so much about earlier in the day and a little peak raport might just have crept in.

The food itself was different to what I was expecting. The Onion Bhajee starter I had was made up of sliced onion dipped in a batter made from Gram flour and then deep fried. It wasn’t to my taste. My main dish was a Chicken Masala which was cooked to a reasonable standard indeed. I skipped the usual frozen deserts on offer, now having filled my small petite tummy with two pints of Cobra!

The chef came out towards the end of the meal to check everything was fine and in true British style we all said yes.

Score: 3 Stars. Visited March 08.