That'll three Akbar's on Leeds Road! You can't have too many Akbar's I suppose?
Wednesday 23 May 2012
New Akbar's
Looks like a new Akbar's is on the way. Spotted the sign across the shop front of the old jumerah!
That'll three Akbar's on Leeds Road! You can't have too many Akbar's I suppose?
That'll three Akbar's on Leeds Road! You can't have too many Akbar's I suppose?
Wednesday 16 May 2012
Café Pakeezah
Supermarket cafeterias are not
the sort of places I visit very often when in search of gastronomic
experiences. Sausage, chips and beans,
egg and water cress sandwich’s and 3week old slices of lemon meringue pie are
not my idea of yummy fodder.
The branch off Thornton Road is essentially like every other
supermarket… it sells stuff stacked up on shelves! However, it’s when you venture down the
Food2Go and the café area that things start to get interesting. You are
greeted with a supermarketesque deli/curry counter – but massive - where all
and sundry can be viewed for you pleasure, including all the curries, starters
and sweets. It’s a curry lover’s heaven.
From here you can simply choose
your curry and take it away, or opt to dine in the café. It’s now thing’s take a rather splendid
turn. Because once in the café area,
with it’s trendy high sided booths, it is difficult to remember that you’re in
a supermarket at all. It’s all proper,
with menus and waiters, etc. No sliding
a plastic tray’s here.
Izzy and me order samosa Chaat,
Lamb and Spinach (although we were served Chicken and Spinach??) and a garlic
Naan.
I wasn’t sure what to expect –
probably just quickly micro waved food in a bowl. But oh no, proper sizzling hot curry in a
balti dish and fresh naan. The curry was
excellent and top end restaurant standard easily, and all for £4.50! £3.95 to take away or ~£50 for 60
protions!! Yes you can buy you curry
from Pakeezah in portions of 60!). The
naan was up there with the best too – very fresh and garlicy. However, it was the samosa chaat that really struck
a chord with me. I spotted it advertised
on a poster in the window – and not every having tried it before I thought it’d
be good. It looked yoghurty too so thought
it would be good for Izzy. The dish
came with two warm, stuffed to the gills, tasty meat somosas, smothered in what I
assume was the chaat. The chaat, from
what I could tell, comprised chickpea and potato curry, yoghurt and was topped
with tamarind sauce, garam masala and fresh chilli’s!! Please excuse my ignorance if this isn't correct. As it turned out it wasn’t for Izzy either, but I
loved it. It was the kind of sweet/sour/hot/cold combo that attacks all your taste buds – it was also pretty darn hot (spicy).
All for the bargain price of £3.95 (£2.95 take out), and I’ll definitely re
visit soon for more.
 |
| Chicken and Spinach |
 |
| Samosa Chaat |
Café Pakeezah is definitely worth
going out of your way for I reckon – not just a supermarket café, oh no.
Tuesday 1 May 2012
Kerala Cafe
139-141,
Bradford Road,
BD18 3TB,
United Kingdom.
Tell: 01274 595 367
 |
| Good pickles including carrot and ginger ones |
Expectations
As always… pretty high. The amount of research I do pre going to curry restaurants always means my mouth is watering days before visiting. My research flagged up that Kerala was going to be something completely different to anything else anyone can savor in Bradford… Southern Indian Food.
The Reality
On first inspection of the menu it was immediately obvious we were out of our Bradfordian comfort zone, with a board of fare stuffed full of new to us dishes. On further perusal, and reading of the descriptions more carefully, some familiarity could be gleaned. The bread section is a perfect example… no chapattis, naans, etc, but descriptions revealed the breads on offer were ‘like chapttis’, ‘like naan’.
 |
| Vada's with coconut dip |
So on to starters. After poppadom’s that were served with a good selection of pickles, which included a ginger and carrot pickle – excellent - I chose vada’s. I’ve not had vada’s before but remembered the Hairy Bikers once cooking them on the telly, and understood them to be essentially a kind of deep fried chickpea doughnut street food type of thingy?? My vada’s were served with a coconut dip and, to be honest, I didn’t really like them – they seemed a little bland? Now, before I go further, I have no vada experience, so can’t really comment. They were well cooked and had a nice chewy dense texture, but perhaps needed a dip with a little bit more oomph? It’s all down to taste at the end of the day I suppose? Other options such as fish and chicken fries were also ordered, and were well received.
 |
| The Dosa's are as big as they look! |
My main of Lamb Masala Dosa, although slightly collapsed by the time it arrived, was excellent. It was massive, and heartily stuffed with a mild and very tasty lamb and potato masala. A thin lentil soup/dip/sauce was served on the side. I’ve had dosa’s before and love the concept. Kerala Café’s dosa was no exception and I loved it all. A dosa is traditionally made from a slightly fermented batter, and has a slightly sour taste, and is nice and crispy. A much lighter option compared to Bradford’s usual massive naans etc. I don’t know the technique for eating but I just dive in!! Pour the sauce over the whole lot and go for it. A dosa is an excellent experience if you’ve never had one.
The dinning environment is good café style. It is basic, with no bells and whistles, but clean and tidy. There was a lot of glass to the front of the café, and it was a sunny day, so was pretty hot – just like Kerala I guess? I think twelve of us turning up unannounced slightly startled the staff, and there were some gaps in the courses, but as a whole they managed a sterling job so hats off.
 |
| Cool cafe interior |
Drinks Policy and range
BYO. Come prepped if alcohol is to be taken. No ‘offies’ in the locale that I spotted. Water, pop and some very nice fruit juices are available off the menu.
Highlights
I do love a Dosa – and this was it for me. Also, the Lamb Chettinadu was outstanding. “The best curry I had in a long time” - was the comment from one of the more ‘hard to please’ BCC members. ‘Nough said really.
Lowlights
Vada’s – just didn’t get them at all?? Sorry. To be honest, I have no point of reference, but just didn’t really taste of anything? Having said that, the under two’s loved them – reason enough for me to love them I suppose maybe? HHmmm? The jury is out.
The Damage
A reasonable ~£15pp, as per the norm. Good food for good money.
Overall
Kerala Café is a little out the way, but is definitely worth a visit for, not only the ‘something completely different’ aspect, but for a darn good curry too, and is also open at lunch time.
Tuesday 24 April 2012
International Yet Again
I managed to squeeze a quick trip to the International the other day.
Strangely I was the only diner on this occasion? Although I did visit mid-afternoon, so may be just a funny time.
Always top notch, I was soon breaking into my complimentary poppadom and perusing the menu deciding what to treat myself this time… Garlic Chili Chicken jumped out at me.
The dish did
exactly what it said on the tin. It was
strong in garlic and also offered sufficient heat to let you know you were being
spoken to!! It was simply great.
This was yet
another fantastic dish and overall experience from the International.
Monday 23 April 2012
Akbar’s The Café Quickie – Excellent Service.
 |
| AAAarrrrggghhhhh!!!! |
After the recent very successful
Bradford Curry eating outing to Akbar’s Café, we didn’t need much persuasion to
revisit on the spur of the moment when the opportunity arose the other week.
Again, even at noon, the
restaurant was already buzzing. I
ordered the Lamb and Spiniach Handi again, and a naan… again, and fish masala
for Izzy… hhmm… again!! And why not – it
was lovely last time. Big Tone ordered
a biryani.
 |
| Little tear away still treated to an ice cream |
Although it was busy, we were
rather alarmed to be told by the waiter that there would be 20 to 30 minute
wait for our food!! Probably the biryani
we thought, and set too trying to entertain a short on patience and getting
hungry 2 year old toddler. To Akbar’s
credit, they must have seen we were struggling somewhat with Izzy, as her
patience wore thing, and the food must have been pushed through the kitchen in
double time. Our meals arrived in a
fraction of the stated time.
What joy – a settled 2yr old,
happy with her fish, and happy Dad with his beautiful Lamb and Spinach Handi,
that was wonderfully rich, meaty, and
irony from the spinach. Oh and a more
than happy Grandpa with his biryani.
Quality food, with no evidence of corner cutting to get everything out
to us quickly, is deserving of merit.
Yet another top draw Akbar’s experience.
Monday 2 April 2012
Punjab Sweet House & Grill Centre
BD7 1JR
Tell:
01274 720308
Time
24th March 2012 @ ~21:00
Attendees
(Rob, Gill), Jenny, Pete, Ian, Lara Lynda and John (me)
Pre-Curry
Watering Holes
No children on this trip, so a proper pub-crawl - albeit short - had been engineered in to the start of this Bradford Curry eating trip.
 |
| Inside the Sparrow |
First up was
the Sparrow Bier Café, on North Parade, and a very popular little beer drinking
café-bar it was too. Pretty cool with
exotic beer advertising plaques on the wall, and little Formica tables and
chairs. Although specializing in beer,
we started with a couple of bottle of wine – just to get the evening going you
understand – so can’t really comment on the beer quality. Basically, there were a number of speciality beers, including local ales, on draft, and also bottled continental types
too. It was noted as being, by a member
of our party, “my new favourite place in Bradford
for a drink” - high praise indeed and I’m sure it’ll be on the hit list for
pre-curry drinks in the future.
Next was The
Castle Hotel. Here, a famous old Bradford drinking den was visited by us for the first
time. To be honest I’ve never really
done much drinking in Bradford really –
probably shows. The Castle Hotel is a
pretty bog standard ‘oldie worldy’ pub with a good selection of Real Ales. I understand it to be popular with the CAMARA
types. I had a pint of something, which
name escapes me, but was quite hoppy I recall.
 |
| Inside the Fighting Cock |
The belly
was rumbling now, but one final drink was to be taken at, from what I
understand to be, the Bradford pub that towers above all other Bradford pubs – The Fighting Cock. You see, again, I’ve never been. I’ve been aware of its presence, and driven
past and seen all the beer barrels out side but never stepped inside. It certainly looks the business, and was
expecting a real dark and dingy, small, spit and sawdust type of place. How wrong I was. It was full of trendy types sipping at their
artisan real ales. Surprisingly large
inside, it was very reminiscing of Fanny’s in Shipley, which we visited a
couple of months ago. It is a Bradford institution and one not to be missed. Dutch lager was my weapon of choice. It was good, it was lager.
Another big plus point for the Fighting Cock is that it’s just around the corner from the Punjab Sweet House & Grill Centre.
Expectations
 |
| The Mixed Sizzling Starter |
Punjab don’t seem
to like to advertise, and don’t have a web site!! Other than driving past on occasion, the Punjab has passed me by entirely. However, word of mouth is a powerful thing,
and once probing the enigma that is the Punjab Sweet House and Grill
The Reality
The extended
drinking time meant we arrived at the Punjab
gone 9pm. This was good because the tea
time rush was starting to ease some what – when we passed on our way the ‘Cock
it was heaving.
 |
| Atmospheric Shot of Punjab |
The open
kitchen was a nice to see and it was good to spend a few moments watching the
chefs producing the fresh food with bursts of flames and bangs and clatters,
and loading the tandoors with freshly rolled nanns. The Punjab
was looking promising.
Décor fell into the posh café style. It was clean and presentable. There is also an attached sweet centre, but this was closed by the time we left. We’ll have to ensure an earlier eating time for our next visit.
 |
| Inside the Punjab |
No complimentary poppadoms to munch on as we perused the menu, but these were ordered as a pre starter to our Special Mixed Grill. We asked for the chicken wings to be swapped for more chicken tikka, which was not a problem; and the dish arrived spitting and sizzling on its red hot cast iron plinth. All aspects of the dish (lamb chops, chicken tikka and kebabs) were wonderful – moist, succulent, full of flavour with spice that danced on the tongue and attacked every taste bud.
 |
| Lamb Handi |
The menu was
full and varied as whole, but didn’t offer too many dish options beyond the
standard fare seen all over Bradford . However, the Lamb Handi (on the bone) jumped
out at me as something worth trying. I’m
glad I did. The dish was pomp and
ceremony, and arrived bubbling away in a clay pot held aloft and heated by its
own tea light fuelled holder - very grand and unique. A new experience was about to be had I could
tell. As for the taste – it wasn’t all
‘talk and no trousers’ either – and the word rich doesn’t do it justice!! I’m guessing all the marrow from the bones
must have seeped out to produce a curry with depth of flavour far beyond the any
I’ve sampled in this town… indeed the world.
The Handi was ultimate hedonistic decadence in curry form - quite simply
gorgeous.
Drinks Policy and range
Punjab is strictly
alcohol free. Calibrate in the Fighting
Cock – if that’s your bag – prior to your arrival, and enjoy the delights of
tap water and lassi during your meal.
 |
| Another shot of the Lamb Handi |
Highlights
Lots of
highlights – basically, for me, just a great night out from start to
finish. The Sparrow and the ‘Cock got
the evening rolling with good booze and chat in atmospheric environs, then onto
the Punjab where one of the – no THE - most
lavish and decadent curry I’ve every eaten was savored to the last.
Lowlights
Only having
too much enjoyment!! The enjoyment levels were at such heights we missed the
last train. Luckily the Punjab was on hand to sort appropriate transport for our
party. Still, it was an unnecessary taxi
fare. NB – this is not a reflection of
slow service or anything – just us sitting in the boozer too long!!
The Damage
I didn’t notice the bill come around the table – again!! Sorry. I’m getting good at this.
Aftershock
The richness
of my curry had taken its toll to a certain extent, resulting in indigestion
and a small amount of squiffy tumminess to following morning. But our livers thank us for the late finish
in the Punjab and straight into a taxi home.
Overall
We really found
our hidden gem, and Punjab really lived up to
the ‘word of mouth’ hype I’d come across on the internet. Miss it out at your peril.
Wednesday 28 March 2012
Karachi - The Same Greatness but Better…
 |
| Me eating my Lamb and Spinach |
But Why?
Well, the Karachi
The addition of plate full of
wonderfully tasty fragmented shards and clumps of onion bhaji whetted the
appetite fully prior to the arrival of the sizzling pot of curry too.
The waiter was especially helpful
and friendly on this occasion – not that they aren’t normally - in as much as –
assuming I am a recognised face within the curry eating Mecca that is the
Karachi – I don’t receive a menu, but am treated more as a guest, and just
asked what I want. On this occasion, I
was given the option of two varieties of Lamb and Spinach – a normal one and a spicy
one. Suffice to say the spicy one was
ordered. It turns out that this is the one I
normally receive. It was probably the
Rick Stein version I’m guessing.
 |
| The wife eating her Lamb and Spinach |
No, the real treat on this visit
was the accompanying wife. We made this
visit during a few stolen hours at the end of the day, before returning home to
the madness that is ‘terrible two’s’, and outside the group curries enjoyed in
the Bradford Curry Club, and almost without the pressure of official Bradford
Curry Blogger work - it was just me and the Mrs eating Bradford Curry… Just like the good old days. Joy.
Tuesday 6 March 2012
Omar's
 |
| The Bradford Curry Club |
Omar’s
46
Great Horton Road
Bradford ,
West Yorkshire
BD7 1AL
Tell: 01274 414 188
Pre-Curry Watering Holes
No pre curry drinking on this occasion. Small children in tow, and an early sit down time kind of negated this much enjoyed ritual. There’s always next month though. For reference, Omar’s is located just below Bradford Uni, so is ideally located for all the local student bars, and also my favourite Weatherspoon’s - The Sir Titus Salt.
Expectations
 |
| HHmmm... Now What do I Fancy? |
‘Yorkshire ’s Biggest Naan’s’ is the claim, and I was
hoping for a decent feed if nothing else.
I was aware that Omar’s had a good reputation, and was generally
popular. However, nagging at the back of
my head was the idea that Omar’s might be pushing the ‘Biggest Naan’s’ thingy
at the expense of quality.
The Reality
As with a
lot of the recent Bradford Curry Club outings, things got off to a shaky start. The initial plan was for some healthy eating
and shisha smoking at Jumerah. However, upon
arrival at Jumerah we were presented with a closed restaurant, with no sign of
life and no evidence of opening anytime soon!
I will monitor the situation.
Hopefully it’s not bitten the dust.
So yet again were had to resort to a Plan B. A few worthy names were banned about, but I wanted somewhere new and proposed Omar’s. We missed Omar’s last year and a necessary visit had been on the cards for a while. Our car load of Curry lovers were in agreement, and a few frantic phone calls later ensured the rest of the brigade were redirected Omar’s.
Phew!! All was going smoothly all things considering. ‘Most’ arrived at Omar’s without hitch, with
only the unfortunate few making there way up at Omar Khan’s by mistake, but
ultimately catching up.
Omar’s is quite a nice place really – all lilac and mood lighting. The petite and bijou restaurant was buoyantly busy when we arrived, and remained so during our stay, but it was not too much trouble for the staff to quickly rearrange a space in the corner for our group numbering fourteen. Loads of poppadoms and pickles, and the menus were placed on the table before we’d even sorted ourselves out. So it was nice to simply sit down, open the menu and start munching.
 |
| Seekh Kebab |
The varied, now more common, cafesque menu offered a full range of curries, including some mouthwatering specials, along with some burger and pasta etc options to boot. I also spotted the Notorious Naan – a simply ‘must have’ for the table to tear into. One interesting section of the menu was titled Sizzling Kebabs on Naan!! I must have died and gone to heaven surely? However, these monstrous sounding kebabs were deemed too larger sounding to even share as a starter, so they will have to be saved for another day.
All the orders were taken efficiently by the pleasantly mannered member of staff, me opting for my preferred Lamb Seekh Kebab, and then following with a Paneer Karahi Special (Lamb - but could be ordered with chicken, keema, vege, etc.)
 |
| Lamb n Paneer |
Due to the size of our group the food took a while to prepare – but nothing excessive – probably just me nursing my single designated driver beer!! But soon enough my kebabs arrived, and some additional sauces were also provided. The kebabs were very nice. Nice bit of heat with tasty spices and herbs, with plenty of moisture and an agreeable charcoal/tandoor after taste.
The curries looked spectacular, all being served in large balti dishes. My Lamb and paneer wasn’t exactly like what I would consider a traditional ‘Bradford Curry’, it was definitely lighter in colour than other lamb curries I’ve experienced around these parts. In addition the curry was saucier and gloopier than others eaten. The flavour was nice but was quite mild, both in the heat and other spices stakes, and was more reminiscent to my mind of a Curry Mile or Balti Triangle curry. This ‘lighter’ aspect to the curry added a much fresher eating experience than some of the heavy stews served in the vicinity.
 |
| One Mighty Naan! |
The Notorious Naan has to be seen to be believed – it’s massive!! But not only that, it’s a good fresh and tasty piece of bread too. It ate very well. Although we ordered the garlic version, it didn’t blow your head off with garilciness – perhaps a reflection of the general subtlety of herb and spice use noted in the curry also.
Drinks Policy and range
BYO. Cost Cutter is just across the road so no
problems if you arrive empty handed.
Bottles openers were offered by the staff. Of course there is a full range of soft
drink’s and lassi’s.
Highlights
The Notorious Naan has to be seen to be believed. Its size isn’t its only note worthy point though - it’s also a very good naan. The staff and general service is also worth a mention – no quibbles regarding four young children running round causing havoc.
Lowlights
No lowlights
to mention. However, for me, the actual
curry wasn’t perhaps what I would consider classically ‘Bradfordian’, and was
definitely lighter in flavour and gloopier, than the dark/dry/rich varieties we
often see around Bradford . My curry was maybe more reminiscent of ones
I’ve eaten on my travels in Manchester or Birmingham
 |
| Me and Lady Di |
The Damage
I was baby herding during the bill paying procedure – I always like to make myself scarce at such moments!! I think we paid ~£15pp which, considering this included food for the babies is pretty reasonable.
Aftershock
Apart from leaving the restaurant looking like four little Tasmanian Devils had whirlwinded through, there was no problems. Although an early doors Bradford Curry eating extravaganza, everyone opted to go there separate ways, and not go for further pints in the Sir Titus Salt.
Overall
I really
enjoyed my Omar’s experience. It was a
good Club turn out, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and the service was
excellent too, so top marks.
Monday 5 March 2012
It's Good to be Back Eating Bradford Curry
 |
| Back to Reality |
It's true to a certain extent. The mundane monotonous drudgery of everyday life of get up, go to work, go home, go to bed, repeat, is all worth it for the odd occasion of unplanned Bradford Curry eating at the likes of the Karachi. All worth it and Karachi's Lamb and Spinach is still my fave Bradford Curry. Like I say, It's good to be back.
 |
| Karachi Lamb and Spinach |
Friday 2 March 2012
Holiday - Fazz's, Lanzarote
 |
| Pushing the limits of the youngest Bradford Curry Club Memeber |
Well, I can confirm, if you’re planning to holiday anytime
soon in Playa Blanca, Lanzarote, then yes, you’re gonna find Bradfordesque curry for sure.
I'm not wanting to dedicate too many Bradford Curry Blog column inches
to a curry house in Lanzarote, but Fazz’s (somewhere on the promenade getting
on towards the lighthouse and in the Rubicon Marina shopping center) is well
worth a visit.
Not only does Fazz’s proffer high quality curry in a modern
environ, with a well-stocked bar, serving amongst other things, local wine – it
also provides the holidaying Bradfordian the perfect antidote to the holiday curry blues.
Barring the strange Hotdog flavoured sheikh kebab, the curry
was rather tasty and wouldn’t have been out of place if served in the mighty
Bradford.
Tuesday 14 February 2012
Official Curry Ambassador
 |
| John the Bradford Curry Blogger - Official Curry Ambassador It has a certain ring to is doesn't it? |
Friday 10 February 2012
International #2
 |
| Snowy scene from The City Vaults |
And two days later I am back again!! Eating Bradford Curry in the International – it’s a hard life.
This time, however, the visit was on official duty as self appointed Chairperson of the Bradford Curry Club. No relaxed dinner time curry eating with my baby daughter this time. Networking, hard drinking, socializing, hard drinking, hard curry eating, oh and hard drinking were required. It really is a hard life.
However, the original plan wasn't to visit the International at all, on
this chilliest of snowy evenings. No, the
original plan was to visit the newly refurbished Sheesh Mahal. However, on the said evening, the birthday
celebrations of an esteemed member were also occurring, and a few drinky poos
were on the cards to be consumed. It
became apparent, following an earlier phone call to the Sheesh, that this wasn’t
going to happen - not there anyway - due to the confirmed strictly no alcohol
policy! Not wanting to be a party
pooper, I proposed a Plan B, which entailed the Markaz in Centenary
Square. It was snowing quite heavily by
now, resulting in no one wanting to walk too far, and I was sure Markaz sold
booze – and sheesha, and it was also timetabled for a visit later on in the
year – Top Draw.
Bum – closed… What now?
We’re stuck in the middle of Bradford ,
on official Bradford Curry Club duties, and Plan A and Plan B are both out of
the window… What shall we do? Under such trying circumstances, the normal plan
of attack would be… “Let’s just go to the Kash’.” But no, the first name mentioned was
International. Everyone agreed, so we
trotted up the hill, and picked up some wine in t’Witherspoons en route. That was a bit of an ordeal - and a tale for
another day…
We’re finally here… Sitting down with poppadoms, pickles, water and menus was met with some relief. It seems like every blog at the moment is banging on about the International. This is for good reason though – it is very good. And even though I had visited only a couple days earlier, I could not withhold my excitement.
For starter I opted for Tikka Paneer. Lovely it was too, displaying all the hall marks of quality tandoor cooking. It was bob on and tasked wonderful. However, if the paneer was good, it was nothing compared to the lamb chops, one of which I managed to steal from the Mrs. It was about the best tasting lamb chop I ever encountered. As with the paneer, the seasoning, quality, flavor, texture, smell, everything was verging on perfection. I could have eaten them forever.
 |
| Curry Heaven - Near perfection. Lamb Methi |
To the main course, and with my heightened elated feelings of general well being, it was with tingling waves of goose bumps I savoured the first few mouthfuls of my Lamb Methi… Yes, I was in the throws of having a ‘moment’. I'm not sure I have ever had a curry ‘moment’ before? But I must admit I quite liked it! The Methi was Bradford Curry personified and I'm going all goo goo again just thinking about it. The dark, dry, rich stew, with abundant, slightly disintegrating, meat and the underlying fenugreek flavor - giving the now understood slightly ‘dusty’ (for want of a better word) taste - melted in the mouth and was persuaded into my mouth with gusto utilizing the included garlic naan.
Curry Heaven. No other words do it justice. Curry Heaven
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