… is what Angelica says, pretty much every time I make her a curry, which is two or three times a week.
When I told her I’d made another sag aloo today but let it slip that it was slightly different to the last one, she was nearly in tears. It had fine beans in it. But it was also her favourite curry in the whole world.
What’s yours?
Diwana - that's it.
There's also one in Fitzrovia that does the dosas Mysore-style, and has a particularly tasty chana masala.
#12 went to the Hare Krishna one.
Not sure why people in the UK expect mainly Bangladeshi and Pakistani run restaurants to make proper Indian food. But what they used to make was far superior to what they now make, in most cases.
To be fair, Punjabi food isn't that different from one side of the border to another, and nor is Bengali food. But we do seem to have settled into the one-gravy-suits-all vaguely Sylheti menu. And some really odd takes on a biryani.
Gobi 65
Oh yes. From Papa Js in Luton.
from a café run by a refuge for sex workers, opposite the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore
It’s a strong bid, early in the thread
Papa Js another place I used to love, twenty years ago.
It's supposedly Not As Good As It Used To Be, but I had many excellent lunches there when I was working in Luton. The A1 Dosa House, up in Bury Park, was always a safe bet too.
Shimla Pinks in Birmingham, and Green Delight from Kardamon in Stony Stratford. No idea if they are still there though. I love a good curry.
#12 the Ravi Shankhar on Drummond St. Very good vegetarian dhosas.
Also good are the Pakistani grill houses around East London. Lahore Kebab or Needoo Grill near Whitechapel high st are both v good.
The Drummond Street ones always used to bill themselves as bhelpuri houses, which felt like an odd selling point (they never restricted themselves to it).
Oddly, one of the best bhelpuris I've had was in the domestic departures area of Kolkata airport (Dum Dum).
New Tayyabs was good, too, until its reputation went to its head. Ambala, nearby on Brick Lane, used to deliver huge batches of excellent samosas to our office.
From a little street food place I know. You wouldn't have been there, it was years before they'd even serve me.
#23: I think that business of the waiter delivering cocaine to your table did for Shimla Pinks.
It was a very fun place while it lasted.
There's still Shimla Pinks in Leicester. Their fish dishes are good.
There's a place called Kayal, again in Leicester, who do a great mixed fish curry with a lemon-scented rice. And their seafood starter is a lovely 'sharing platter'.
But if it's not for you, McP, each to their own.