Pavel - Brighton

 

Despite having lived in Brighton for many years, we have never tried Pavel (a hidden gem of an Indian restaurant in Kemptown).

We remedied that on Saturday night, and had a really excellent evening.

The service was friendly, cheerful and efficient.

The food was spot on, a good selection of choices and fantastic flavours, we loved it.

I even had mulligatawny soup, something I haven't had for a few years! 

Oh, and by the way, the Chablis was superb.

Pavel
40 St James's Street
Brighton
BN2 1RG

01273 369 2711

The Bayleaf Brighton

Restaurant

The Bayleaf Brighton
48-49 St James Street
Brighton
BN2 1RG

☎️ 01273 626 900

Overview

Eva and I have been to the Bayleaf three times now, and have had a great time on each visit; Saturday night was no different.

Ambience

The Bayleaf is a modern, vibrant Indian brasserie on the hub of St James Street.

As per their site:

"We are able to offer a variety of authentic dishes from all regions of India to suit individual requirements. Our extensive menu contains specialities from all regions of India, specialising in Tandoori, Khorai & Fish dishes. A private function room is available for private parties or conferences for up to 30 people.

Our secret lies in sourcing out fresh ingredients along with decades of experience in the Indian food industry. Our Chef meticulously mixes and blends the spices and herbs to create mouthwatering dishes for you to indulge and enjoy every time you visit."

Menu

The menu has an excellent selection of Indian dishes including the staples such as Madras, Vindaloo and Korma etc.

Service

As per usual we were very warmly welcomed, the service from all the members of staff was (as ever) very friendly, efficient and professional.

Food

Eva started with the Reshmi Kebab (minced chicken and herbs and spices) cooked in a charcoal oven. This is a delicately flavoured succulent kebab, well balanced in terms of heat and flavour. She was more than  happy with it, as it was well presented and perfectly balanced in taste.

She then opted for the Chicken Pathia with rice, a spicy sweet and sour dish, that gave just the right amount of heat and depth of flavour.

I started with the Chicken Milestone, chicken with green chillies and onions. This was splendid, a good sized portion and very tasty.

I then had the Chicken Madras with rice, just the right amount of heat and spices made this a very balanced and pleasant dish. My side dish of Tarak Dal complimented it perfectly.


I rarely have desserts, but saw that the Bayleaf had a lemon sorbet served in a lemon on the menu...."old skool!"..I had to have that. It was great, and the lemon was a stonkingly large size too!

The bill, which included, service, Prosseco and several flaming sambucas came to £110.

Overall Opinion

We are very happy to recommend the Bayleaf, and will most certainly be going again!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday

Happy birthday to that eponymous British dish (that claims to be Indian) Chicken Tikka Masala, which celebrates 60 years this month.

It is the UK's most popular dish, according to Food Service Intelligence.

It represents 25% of the total turnover of £2.5BN of all the 9000 "curry houses" in the UK. In another staggering statistic the organisers of the National Curry Week have estimated that if all the portions of chicken tikka masala consumed annually in the UK were stacked on top of one another, they would form a tower 2770 times taller than the Greenwich Millennium Dome.

The origin of this peculiar hybrid dish is rumoured to be one of the first Bangladeshi restaurants that opened in Britain in the 1940s. A customer was disappointed to find that his Chicken Tikka was "dry", as it was meant to be. He therefore asked for some gravy, the chef opened a can of tomato soup and poured that over it.

Result?

The birth of a new dish, the rest is history.

Fake Off!

Fake Off!

Gordon Ramsay has been accused of faking scenes for the American version of his show, Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares (where the "F" word is used more liberally than MSG in a down market Chinese restaurant).

The former restaurant manager, Martin Hyde, of Dillons an Indian restaurant in Manhattan has taken legal action against Ramsay.

Hyde is seeking to stop an episode of the series being aired, on the basis that Ramsay humiliated Hyde and exaggerated conditions at Dillons.

Hyde claims that Ramsay fabricated scenes for the episode featuring his business.

Hyde alleges that Ramsay falsely suggested that meat was spoiled and hired actors to pose as customers, so that it would appear the venue was busier after he intervened in its operations.

A spokesman for Ramsay has declined to comment on the lawsuit, which he said he had not yet seen, but in reference to the claims told the Associated Press:

"It is a reality show and as far as I know it's not something they do."

Those who seek free publicity for their restaurants, by bringing in Ramsay, should be well aware that the purpose of the show is to highlight failures and to show a turnaround after Ramsay has been called in.

What did Hyde think would happen?

Patak's Sold

Patak's Sold

Patak's, Britain's best-known Indian food brand, is being sold by its founding family (the Pathaks) for over £100M to Associated British Foods, whose brands include; Sunblest bread, Silver Spoon sugar, Twinings tea and Ovaltine.

Patak's is run by husband and wife team Kirit and Meena Pathak, the "h" in the family name was dropped to make it easier for the English to pronounce.

Patak's was founded in 1957 by Kirit's father, Laxmishanker, who came to Britain in the 1950s as a refugee from Kenya, with his wife and six children. He started with just £5 in his pocket when he arrived in the country.

The business supplies approximately 75% of the 8,000 Indian restaurants in Britain. It also sells curry paste, pappadums, chapattis and cooking sauces through the major supermarket chains and exports to around 40 countries.

Mr Pathak will become chairman of the combined business of Patak's and Blue Dragon and wife Meena will also become a director.

The family is retaining the rights to the Patak brand in India.

Lilla Pakistan

Restaurant

Restaurant Lilla Pakistan
Sankt Eriksgatan 66
113 20 Stockholm
Sweden

Phone (46) (8) 30 56 46

Website www.lillapakistan.com

Overview

Stockholm has a paucity of good quality Indian/Pakistani restaurants, usually the food is too bland or the decor is that of a cold and uninviting cafe. After some considerable searching on the net, for anything resembling quality, Eva and I came across Restaurant Lilla Pakistan which we decided to try out a few weeks ago.

Lilla Pakistan was established in the early 1990's, and specialises in Pakistani food.

Ambience

Lilla Pakistan is a small, intimate restaurant with dark polished wooden tables, mirrors on the walls and a part open kitchen all of which contribute to a pleasant and inviting atmosphere.

Menu

The menu provided a good selection of Pakistani main courses; fish, meat, chicken and vegetables. However, there were only three appetisers to choose from.

Service

The service was professional and friendly, and advice was also on hand should we have needed it in respect of which wine to accompany our meal.

Food

I chose the Mezban Kae Teen Shorbe to start with. This consisted of 3 different types of soups seasoned with fresh herbs. The soups came in miniature bowls and were excellent. However, one was tomato soup and I would question as to what this really has to do with Pakistani cuisine.

Eva chose the Golshan Barre to start with. This is described on the menu as:

"Lentil dumplings soaked in yoghurt served with freshly chopped onions, tomatoes, chilies, herbs and chaat masala."

Quite honestly this was a complete disappointment, the dumplings were minuscule and hard to detect within the mound of chopped onions etc. Eva was not happy with her choice.

To our view, the appetiser section of the menu requires more attention in terms of choices of dishes on offer, and what actually goes into them.

Fortunately our main courses were better!

I chose the Zafrani Pasanda Fruita; which consisted of marinated tender chunks of lamb roast in a saffron gravy, garnished with fried fruits with ginger, roasted Pakistani pine kernels, with marinated cheese. This was first class, the meat was exceptional tender and flavoursome and was well complemented by the fruits and ginger.

Eva chose the Dahi Gosht for her main course. This was beef cooked in garam masala and yoghurt, a fine dish spicy and stimulating.

To accompany our meal we had Sabzi Ka Pakwan vegetables, potatoes baked with raisins,
fresh herbs and mushrooms; together with two nan breads and rice.

The meal, which included a bottle of sweet German wine, came to 1230SEK before tip.

Overall Opinion

A good quality Asian restaurant, one that Stockholm badly needs. However, as noted, we do feel that the appetisers need more work in terms of choice and content.

A Tasty Takeaway

A Tasty Takeaway

Those of you who enjoy an Indian takeaway may balk at the price being paid by Steve Francis, a New York dance music producer for Stush Music.

He is paying over £8K for a takeaway meal consisting of; 1 fish bhuna (using 2 extra large Bangladeshi tiger fish), 12 vegetable birianis and various other side dishes.

The reason that this meal is so expensive, is that it is being flown from the Indie Spice restaurant in Belfast to New York.

Seemingly Mr Francis once sampled the food of the Indie Spice, when he was at a music festival in England.

Well, they do say that curries are addictive!

Vindaloos Cure Headaches

Vindaloos Cure Headaches

It seems that a strong curry, such as a Vindaloo, may in fact be a cure for headaches.

Research, carried out by the Rowett Institute, has found that Vindaloos are better than aspirin at getting rid of headaches.

The key ingredient is salicylic acid, which is found in aspirin, and it occurs naturally in Indian food.

Spices found in curry such as cumin, turmeric and paprika are all rich in the ingredient.

Whilst aspirin can cause internal bleeding and ulcers, curry does not.

Taj Mahal Wins Tiffin Cup

Taj Mahal Wins Tiffin Cup

Taj Mahal, an Indian restaurant established in Pembrokeshire nearly three decades ago, has won the inaugural Tiffin Cup.

Over 40 South Asian restaurants in the UK had been nominated for the contest by their local MPs, before being whittled down to a shortlist of 14 for the final showdown at the House of Commons last night.

The Tiffin Cup was launched by British MPs Keith Vaz, Michael Fabricant and John Barrett in recognition of the contribution of South Asian restaurants to British cuisine and to raise money for charity.

Jack Straw, leader of the House of Commons, was Chief Guest.

Birmingham's 'Royal Al Faisal', specialising in Kashmiri cuisine, came second while 'B Raj Tandoori' Fraserburgh in Scotland finished third.

The entries were judged by celebrity chefs and presenters; Lloyd Grossman and Ainsley Harriott, event management expert Teji Singh, Bollywood actor Saeed Jaffrey and Nina Wadia from the television show 'Goodness Gracious Me'.

A raffle organised on the occasion raised over 1,500 for two charities, the Roko Cancer Appeal and TB Alert.

I wonder if they had read that the Taj Mahl was shut for 5 days in 2004, as a result of a rat infestation?

Vaz Urges Immigration Relaxation

Vaz Urges Immigration Relaxation

Keith Vaz, Labour MP for Leicester, has urged the government to relax the immigration system, so that cooks from India can obtain work permits to work in Indian restaurants in Britain.

Vaz told the House of Commons that Indian and Chinese restaurants in Leicester were facing a crisis due to shortage of cooks.

Vaz stated that the demand for cooks from India and China was increasing, since many of the founders of Indian and Chinese restaurants who opened their establishments in the 1960s were approaching retirement and their children had no interest in running them.

Vaz claims that Britain has the largest number of Indian restaurants outside of India, approximately 10,000. They serve some two million meals a week and the sector is worth over £3BN to the British economy.

Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, said that he did not agree but promised to monitor the system.

There is no reason to assume that chefs, of non Asian origin, cannot be trained to cook Asian meals.

Glasgow Goes For Curry Title

Glasgow City Council is supporting its restaurants' goal to become the Curry Capital of Britain 2006.

Four restaurants have been chosen to represent Glasgow; the Panjea, Ashoka Flame, Shish Mahal and the Dhabba will take part.

The competition is now in its sixth year, and will see sixteen cities facing off for the titles of Curry Capital of Britain 2006 and EthniCity 2006.

Glasgow won Curry Capital in 2002 & 2003, Bradford in 2004 and Birmingham in 2005.

The multiethnic 'EthniCity' title went to Edinburgh in 2003, Birmingham in 2004 and Glasgow in 2005.

The winning city will be announced this May.

Lord Provost Liz Cameron is quoted as saying:

"Glasgow is the home of a good curry. For years our fantastic Indian restaurants have served up inventive and fiery dishes to warm the culinary heart. And we are proud to say that curry is up there as our adoptive national dish."

Feast of Contemporary Indian Art

One of London's most fashionable Indian restaurants, the Quilon Restaurant and Bar, recently held an exhibition of contemporary Indian art (8th-19th February).

The exhibition, called a "Feast of Contemporary Indian Art", had items taken from a collection at the Gallery Sumukha in Bangalore.

Gallery Sumukha was set up in 1996, and its mission is to promote awareness of Indian contemporary art both within and without India.

The works of 27 Indian artists were represented at Quilon, and included; acrylic and oil paintings, copper relief and watercolours, by artists such as Manish Pushkale, Laxma Goud and Rayis Komu.

An auction was then held to provide an art degree for an overseas student.

East is East?

East is East?

Owners of Indian and Chinese restaurants in the UK are now being asked to hire East European nationals to work in their kitchens and front of house, rather than source their labour supply from the Indian subcontinent.

Officials say that East Europeans would now need to be given preference in the labour market, after their countries joined the EU.

Ministers have reportedly told owners of Indian and Chinese restaurants that English should be spoken in kitchens, so that vacancies can be filled by East Europeans.

This move is causing discontent amongst the owners of the restaurants.

Representatives of Chinese restaurants have already lobbied with MPs to save the industry.

Ashraf Uddin, secretary-general of the Bangladesh Caterers' Association, said:

"Unless they know our culture, our language, our way of working, it's a complete mess."

The New Maharajah's

Restaurant

The New Maharajah's
17 Forrest Road
Edinburgh

Phone:- 0131 220 2273

Website www.thenewmaharajahs.co.uk

Overview

Eva and I spent a few days over Christmas in Edinburgh this year. We arrived on Christmas Eve and, with absolutely no plans, decided to pop out for a drink then something to eat.

Having imbibed of a few welcome drinks, we found that rather disconcertingly many of the restaurants we looked in on were in fact closed. The night was getting cold and we had almost resigned ourselves to returning to our hotel, and eating in, when we came across The New Maharajah's; an Indian restaurant serving Tandoori, Mughlai and Bengali cuisine.

The restaurant, situated near the famous Greyfriars Bobby pub, is under new management and claims to have been recommended by Egon Ronay and the Good Curry Guide.

Ambience

The restaurant was bright and cheerful, not one centimetre of flock wallpaper was in sight! Most especially welcome, on that rather cold damp night, it was warm and comfortable.

The walls are painted a light cream colour, the floors wooden parquet. The chairs are red velvet backed, comfortable to sit on and the tables laid with linen clothes and napkins.

Unlike many Indian restaurants, the background music was not a the usual selection of "Asian style" mood music, but an eclectic mixture of disco and Motown from the 1950's, 60's, 70's and 80's. In fact we rather enjoyed naming the tunes, but would note that the music was not intrusive.

Menu

The menu offered a good range of Tandoori, Biryani and Mughlai dishes; additionally there were a number of house specials and standard curries.

As with many Asian restaurants the New Maharajah offers a take away service as well.

Service

The staff were friendly and welcoming, even though it was 9:00pm on Christmas Eve they showed no sign of trying to rush us through our meal.

The service was attentive and efficient, and the staff were happy to explain the dishes when asked.

Food

I chose the lamb baja for my starter. This consisted of a most excellent and succulent chapatti, stuffed with minced lamb and spices. I was very impressed both with the taste and texture of this dish. It was, to my view, an ideal starter.

I chose the Jhallfrezie chicken for my main course, this is a marinated Tandoori chicken with fresh green chilli, coriander and garnished with ginger. It was spicy and flavoursome.

I had plain boiled rice and allo jeera (potato with cumin) to accompany it.

Eva started with the lamb kebab; this was a dish of succulent and tender Tandoori cooked lamb chunks in yoghurt and medium spices, served with a salad. The meat was good quality, and the spices not overpowering

Rather bravely, for her main course, Eva chose the chicken Balti Rooflifter. This dish, not surprisingly was very hot, I guess it had been created especially for the Scottish palate. It consisted of pieces of chicken in Balti spices, chopped onion, green pepper, mint, yoghurt coriander and Kashmiri massalla.

She chose pilao rice to accompany it.

She was delighted with this dish, even though it was by far the hottest that she has ever had.

It is fair to say that it opened the pores!

The meal, which included a good bottle of Pouilly Fuisse and liqueurs, came to £48 including service.

Overall Opinion

We had a splendid meal, and are more than happy to recommend the New Maharajah's as a place worth visiting when in Edinburgh.

Britain's Best

Britain's Best

Birmingham's Maharaja Restaurant has been named the best in Britain by "Olive", a BBC food magazine.

The Maharaja is Birmingham's oldest and finest Indian restaurant, it was established in 1971.

It was chosen from hundreds of Indian restaurants for its "superb curries" and "excellent tandoori specialities" served in "an elegant and civilised setting".

Nat Batt, the restaurant's proprietor, said:

"We are delighted to receive this accolade by such a prestigious publication.

It confirms our commitment to serving the finest authentic Indian food using a tandoor oven from India and spices prepared on our premises".

Tiffin Club Formed

Over 50 British MPs, from all parties, have formed the first-ever "All Parliamentarian Tiffin Club" to select the best South Asian restaurant in the UK.

This event will be held every year, and the proceeds raised will be donated to charity.

The Club will be jointly headed by Keith Vaz, MP, former minister for Foreign and Commonwealth Office, John Barrett, MP and Michael Fabricant, MP.

It was formally launched at the Gaylord Indian Restaurant, one of the top five Restaurants in the UK at yesterday.

MPs present on the occasion included John Barrett, Janet Anderson, Crispin Blunt, Peter Bottomley, Dr Vincent Cable, Philip Davies, Andrew Dismore, Simon Hughes, Anne Mcintosh and Derek Wyatt.

Curry Honour

Curry Honour

The mayor of Westminster, central London, unveiled a plaque yesterday on the wall of 102 George Street.

This was in honour of Indian businessman Sake Dean Mahomed, who set up Britain's first curry restaurant in 1810.

The Hindoostane Coffee House was said to sell food "unequalled to any curries ever made in England".

Mahomed was born in 1759, and came to Britain in 1784.

The restaurant went bankrupt in 1812.

Britain now has around 9,000 curry houses.

Britain's Curry Crisis

Britain's Curry Crisis

Britain now has nearly 10,000 Indian restaurants, serving two million curry meals a week; having a "curry" is now a weekly tradition for many British families.

However, the growth of the "curry" industry in Britain now faces a threat from a shortage of labour.

The 10,000 curry restaurants in Britain require 20,000 chefs and 40,000 helpers, as a minimum. Unfortunately, these requirements are proving to be too much for restaurants which are struggling to recruit trained/experienced chefs and assistants.

Immigration policies have been toughened up in the last few decades, and the recent terrorist bombings have made immigration authorities reluctant to give out new work permits or renew existing ones.

Such is the crisis that the Guild of Bangladeshi Restaurateurs, which represents 2000 South Asian restaurants, has appealed to Home Secretary to relax immigration rules.

Namita Punjabi, owner of the Chelsea-based Chutney Mary Anglo-Indian restaurant, is reported to have said:

"It is very difficult to get good cooks. We normally just can't find them in this country. And remember that India is the size of Europe. Each area has its own specific types of food. As a company, we can't look for talent in Britain it just doesn't exist."

It may be that the traditional "curry" house will have to start increasing prices, in order to stem demand.

Visa Scheme Scrapped

Visa Scheme Scrapped

The British government has scrapped the short term visa scheme for people working in Indian restaurants, as a result of an illegal immigration scam involving Bangladeshis.

The scrapping will affect nearly 10,000 Indian restaurants in Britain.

The Immigration Minister, Tony McNulty, took the decision after a review uncovered fraud among Bangladeshis seeking work in the restaurants.

The Minister claims that the scheme was no longer needed, because many jobs in bars and restaurants were being filled by migrants from the new European Union states.

However, the decision was criticised by the UK's Immigration Advisory Service; it accused the minister of turning his back on the Indian restaurant industry, which is largely run by Bangladeshis.

Purveyors of Gandhi Curry in a Stew

Purveyors of Gandhi Curry in a Stew

An Australian takeaway firm, called Handi Ghandi "Great Curries...No Worries", has annoyed Mahatma Gandhi's family.

They are asking the Indian government to stop the company using Gandhi's name.

The company sells meat and vegetarian curries; including beef, which is sacred to Hindus and forbidden.

Tushar Gandhi, the activist's Bombay-based great-grandson and head of the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation, is quoted as saying:

"It's offensive..It goes absolutely against all his beliefs. Using his image to sell beef curries and such doesn't gel".

Gandhi's name and image are protected under India's constitution. However, these laws quite clearly do not apply to other countries.

It may be that the Gandhi's family will have an uphill struggle with their complaint.