Culinary delights.

FINALLY I've found a good place for curry in London. The bad news is that it takes a while to get out to Tooting Broadway, but still now that I know there is at least one place that is capable of serving a good curry (also cheap), I'll perhaps be more inclined to go out there for it. The place in question is called Masaledar and thankfully manages to do a Saag Paneer that actually tastes of something and doesn't have a watery, milky consistency to it. Plus it did amazing Peshwari naan and nice, non-dyed pilau rice. Not too shabby at all. Oh and for four of us the bill came to an incredibly reasonable 40 quid, and that with food left on the table no less. All good. Don't get me wrong, it was no Mother India in Glasgow, but for London I'm impressed.

That was on Friday, on Saturday we went along to Patogh by Edgware Rd with Freeman after trying and failing to get into Mandalay, a Burmese restaurant further up Edgware Rd. As disappointed as I was that we wouldn't be eating Burmese food, Patogh was a more than ample substitute. It didn't have much in the way of vegetarian options for main courses, but the special bread was one of the best breads I've ever eater. And I've eaten a LOT of bread in my time. It was so good I'd put it just behind a tasted slice of Mother's Pride plain loaf with loads of butter on it. Because NOTHING beats that bread. Still, Patogh was fantastic though. Well worth a visit. If only they'd do a vegetarian kebab though. Ach well.

What did I do on Sunday? I cooked a Moroccan chickpea stew in a tagine! Which was nice. In fact, I'm going to have some of the leftovers for dinner tonight I think.

Oh dear, I appear to have turned this into a culinary blog. See what happens when not a morsel of food has passed your lips by 4pm? I should go eat.

Oh good Indian curry, where art thou?

London, to my extreme surprise, does not seem to have good Indian curry anywhere! I've tried and I've tried and it's nowhere to be found. Like a noob I went along to Brick Lane only to be very disappointed. I took a recommendation from a friend who is married to a Hindu to try Bengal Spice on Holloway Rd and was very unimpressed at its pitiful effort of a Saag Paneer (not to mention disturbed that it made Mitch sick). I went along to Shah on Drummond St (apparently the home of some of the first Indian restaurants in the country) and was again unimpressed, staying on Drummond St I've also gone to Ravi Shankar's (rubbish) and Diwana which is probably the only one to receive pass marks out of the lot. And only because it is all you can eat for 6.99 and they give you platters instead of plates (I'm a tight Scot, what can I say?), although the food is pretty decent. I've also eaten at Rasa at a friend's recommendation, although admittedly not at the exact restaurant he recommended in Stoke Newington but in W1 instead. It was ludicrously expensive and my dish (a spinach and daal combination) was watery and tasteless. I've been to Khan's in Bayswater/Queensway which was not good either, although the decor almost made up for it- think of being in the jungle in a restaurant, but with no actual plants, only painted plants and bushes on the walls and ceiling and you've got an idea. Mitch liked it as it had a fairly astonishing selection of non-alcoholic drinks as it doesn't have a drinks license. I thought it was crap. I probably wouldn't have written this post if I hadn't had a curry from Mother India when I was back in Glasgow. Mother India and Glasgow in general has ruined me for curries in this city. Any one fancy bringing down a delivery of Saag Paneer, Peshwari Naan, Mushroom Rice and some Poppadoms with Spicy Onions when they visit?