INDIAN RESTAURANTS

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Just now, BobbyH said:

Is the Chinese food you get here in my parents local called ‘Chubby Panda’ the same as you would get in China?

The same for Indian and Italian restraints….Are they the same quality of of food served in there host nations?

No.

The Italian would be closest to correct.

[ditchman]

Best chinese resteraunt ive ever been in....was in Dar-es-sallam   went to it nearly every week....

[amateur]

2 minutes ago, Velocette said:

Probably the Kashmir, just over Great Horton Road in a row of terraces, two doors away from the morgue and opposite the family planning clinic ! Downstairs was the 50p curry, upstairs was slightly posher. The Karachi was about 400yds away, just over Little Horton Lane and a bit more spacious. I was at the Uni in the mid 70's but the whole place is unrecognisable now. City of Culture my ****

That's the one. I hadn't realised that they had a posher section.

The one that we went to for a quality meal was opposite the Management Centre on the corner of Frizinghall Lane.

[Scully]

9 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

No.

The Italian would be closest to correct.

This. 
Most Indian food on the Indian continent is vegetarian ( for obvious reasons ) and Chinese food is quite different. Never having been to either countries I have only the comments of friends to verify this. 
I’ve eaten a lot of Italian food, both in Italian restaurants in the UK and Italian restaurants in Italy. The only difference being that many many of those Italian restaurants in Venice are Chinese owned. 
 

[JohnfromUK]

I like Indian food, but being honest, really I mean 'British Indian' food as I have never been to India.  Years ago my parents had friends who had both been brought up in India where their parents had been in (British) army in India pre war - and she had been taught to cook out there.

Every year they had a 'curry do' where she cooked the old "British Raj" Indian food.  It was wonderful ......

[Vince Green]

 Some years ago we all went out to an Indian restaurant after work for some sort of celebration. 

My colleague was Indian, born in India and didn't recognise most of the stuff on the menu as being Indian food as he knewn it. For a start, most Indians are Hindu and hence vegetarian. 

[Bobba]

I have been fortunate enough to have travelled India and China and, as has been suggested, the food there is nothing like what is dished up here. Far superior because local people are cooking for local people who know what dishes should be like.

That said, I spent Sept in Perth WA where our son now lives. There has been a large intake of Asian folk and there are plenty of Chinese and Dim Sum restaurants. They would make some places here seem like slop kitchens. Again, because you have local people cooking for local people and they are the best ones to visit.

[Flashman]

When living in Hong Kong, there was a take away in Mid Levels that advertised itself as “English Chinese Take Away.”

It was popular with expats and exactly what one would expect.

[7daysinaweek]

I like a prawn Bhuna.

Don't like a vindaloo! 🚽

[martinj]

Mmmmm! Vindalooo, my favourite

[Scully]

5 hours ago, 7daysinaweek said:

I like a prawn Bhuna.

Don't like a vindaloo! 🚽

I’m with you in that. Have had a couple of Vindaloo, but they were so hot I couldn’t really taste anything, so didn’t see the point. 
Apart from that anything with K. Prawn in it….Madras, Muglai, Massala, Rogan Josh, anything really. 

[mel b3]

23 hours ago, BobbyH said:

Is the Chinese food you get here in my parents local called ‘Chubby Panda’ the same as you would get in China?

The same for Indian and Italian restraints….Are they the same quality of of food served in there host nations?

An Indian mate used to take me to the Indian versions of greasy spoons around Birmingham . i cant remember what he called them , but they were the places that indians eat .  The food was fantastic,  but slightly different to the usual Indian restaurant type food , and about a third of the price.  He always said that the red hot curries , were just for drunk English blokes on Friday night's. 

[BobbyH]

13 minutes ago, mel b3 said:

An Indian mate used to take me to the Indian versions of greasy spoons around Birmingham . i cant remember what he called them , but they were the places that indians eat .  The food was fantastic,  but slightly different to the usual Indian restaurant type food , and about a third of the price.  He always said that the red hot curries , were just for drunk English blokes on Friday night's. 

Sounds good that!

[Yellow Bear]

17 minutes ago, mel b3 said:

He always said that the red hot curries , were just for drunk English blokes on Friday night's.

Also heard this many years ago from a lass that was a stewardess on Air India.  The curries she made were  at little more than Korma heat. 

Edited November 28 by Yellow Bear

[mel b3]

16 minutes ago, BobbyH said:

Sounds good that!

 

13 minutes ago, Yellow Bear said:

Also heard this many years ago from a lass that was a stewardess on Air India.  The curries she made were  at little more than Korma heat. 

It's was great . The food was more taste, and , less heat .

[Raja Clavata]

I try to avoid the Bangladeshi “Indian” restaurants much preferring authentic Punjabi or Southern Indian whenever possible.

This morning I had a southern Indian dosa for breakfast and it was delightful. Tomorrow morning I’m having idli.

The last few days I’ve had several “Indian” curries, best ones so far being tuna, watched a tuna fishing boat filleting yellowfin on the quayside yesterday afternoon as the restaurant staff looked on.

Greetings from the Gaafu Alifu Atoll, this place is paradise in my opinion.

[sportsbob]

On 27/11/2024 at 00:51, 100milesaway said:

Many years ago there was a true INDIAN restaurant  in the centre of Leeds called the Mandalay. It was iconic, you got your table for the whole evening, it shut at about 9 ish.There was a mini grand piano which played  classical music by a very accomplished pianist.  The food was superb, It  was patronized  with Indian family's allways dressed in the most beautiful  saris and well behaved children.

It closed years ago  and I have never seen the like since.

Getting onto my observation and interested to see what others think of our present offerings.

If a Chinese restaurant is Chinese

An Italian restaurant  is Italian.

Why is a Bangladesh  or Pakistani restaurant  Indian????

From Auntie 

I think I am the first to answer the question in original post, the answer is because many customers would be put off if it was clearly marked as a Pakistani or Bangladeshi restaurant.

[Bobba]

1 hour ago, sportsbob said:

I think I am the first to answer the question in original post, the answer is because many customers would be put off if it was clearly marked as a Pakistani or Bangladeshi restaurant.

Often the case.
One of our once better Chinese restaurants owners (sadly, original owners retired and current folk not as good) were in fact Vietnamese. The wife said they came over with the Vietnamese Boat People. When they started they sensed some hostility in general against Vietnamese. So they labelled themselves Chinese. As the wife said one day, we felt pretty safe doing this as to most people we all pretty much look the same.

[Keith 66]

On 28/11/2024 at 19:38, mel b3 said:

An Indian mate used to take me to the Indian versions of greasy spoons around Birmingham . i cant remember what he called them , but they were the places that indians eat .  The food was fantastic,  but slightly different to the usual Indian restaurant type food , and about a third of the price.  He always said that the red hot curries , were just for drunk English blokes on Friday night's. 

A few years ago we went to Boxstock cigar box guitar festival at the Slade rooms in Wolverhampton, wondering where to eat three doors away was Jivan's Balti house so in we went. Small place with tiny booth style tables crammed in, plastic tablecloths, lots of asian people eating there & you could see into the kitchen. Staff & Waiters in jeans & t shirts.

We had a starter, main course & rice & peshwari naan & my son & i had 2 cobra beers each, wife had water as she was driving. £45 quid for the three of us & i can honestly say it was one of the finest indian's we have ever had.

The only one that topped it was the Urban Tandoori in Small street in the centre of Bristol, rather more upmarket & expensive & absolutely superb.

The worst indian i have had is in local Benfleet indian the Mumtaz (known as the Bumtaz), sloppy muck swimming in oil with ****** all meat & guaranteed indegestion at 2:00am.

[Bobba]

36 minutes ago, Keith 66 said:

The only one that topped it was the Urban Tandoori in Small street in the centre of Bristol, rather more upmarket & expensive & absolutely superb.

If this way again try the Urban Tandoor on Blackboy Hill / Whiteladies Road is equal (same stable) also, parking is easier than down town

[100milesaway]

Very interesting for me to hear of all the mentions of curry. I went many, many times to The Mandalay and never once even saw  any kind  of curry on the menu. I read years ago that the reasoning behind the extreem heat  and spiceness was to kill the taste of the often gone off meat due to the temperatures in the countries of origin. In my younger days I  often wondered what constituted  a recommendation of a good meal when it came from people just out of the pub at 10-30 full of beer. Like many things in our past the good memories are to be treasured.

From Auntie 

[Keith 66]

My father in law spent some months working in Bangladesh rebuilding a pharmaceutical factory that had been flooded out, he often ate with the local engineers & said the level of heat they were accustomed to was far more than most westerners could cope with. He managed.

A club member recently told me a yarn fron the early 80's when he had backpacked across India with a friend on a couple of honda mopeds, he said they ate at roadside foodstalls & some of the food was superb some less so. At one memorable stop they ate fresh parathas that he said were excellent & cups of chai to wash them down. Having drunk their chai down they gave the cups back to the stall proprietor who promptly washed them with a rag in a large puddle across the road. Next to the puddle was a tin shack, they noticed a fair queue of blokes at the shack,  as they were preparing to leave a woman came out of the shack & washed her lady bits in the same puddle then went back inside ready for her next customer........

[Cosmicblue]

Living in the Midlands we are rather spoiled for choice for Indian restaurants from super cheap to lavish and expensive - often alcohol free to observe religious preferences, take a look at this place in Coventry The Farmhouse Kashmiri , even a takeaway is a weird experience.  You order inside and are then told to go and wait in the car park - they bring it out, all beautifully packaged in designer style cartons.

Now Chinese food - that's an interesting topic.   China is, of course, a simply massive country so it's food varies according to region.  I am fortunate to have a a close friend who is native Chinese and who has introduced me to 'real' Chinese food.  Much of the menu of a typical UK Chinese restaurant probably originates from Singapore - the curry dishes for example don't exist in 'mainland' Chinese restaurant.

Visiting an authentic Chinese restaurant is quite daunting without someone who understands the language - they eat stuff that we probably wouldn't consider, offal for example.  Tripe (who remembers that as a kid - looks like the underside of a school gym mat in the 1970s 🙃).  As it happens we were in Coventry city centre today (huge Chinese Student population) and visited a place called Tian Restaurant which is Cantonese - nothing special inside, food amazing.  Take a look at the pictures in the reviews - doesn't look much like anything in a UK Chinese menu:  Tian - Google reviews

 

Edited December 4 by Cosmicblue

[TIGHTCHOKE]

When the children were growing up we would either go to Leicester or Peterborough for shows and events.

In Leicester there were loads of great curry houses near to the university which we would use for good food at great value, the service was ALWAYS top notch.

In Peterborough it was invariably Chinese restaurants that offered quick and easy fare before a show.

All it takes is a little research before you set off and you can find some absolutely superb places to eat.

 

[Jonty]

On 27/11/2024 at 13:08, Yellow Bear said:

It was downstairs but for the life of me I cannot remember the name.

It’s the Kashmir 👍 me and the kids ate there a couple of weeks ago. The menu is a little more extensive now than when I started eating there 25 years back but it’s still no frills - just fantastic food.