I was taken to Bibi's overpriced place in Leeds Christmas before last, as a bribe by a consultant. We were plonked next to the bogs, which stunk as bad as the Karachi used to. The cost of that meal would have kept me in Bradford curries for a year.

No wonder you've been going so long then. How much are the 'extras'?

Two 'out of town' experiences last week, one good and one woeful.

On Wednesday I went to see the GB vs France U-18s game which meant skipping tea and getting a takeaway on the way home. I stopped off at the 'Home Indian' in Hipperholme. Big mistake. I decided to play safe and go for something veggie with rice, ordering a 'dall dopiaza' with plain rice.

The rice was like American long grain (3/10) and the 'DD' was plain weird - dall in a tomatoey sauce with lumps of tinned pinapple and no onion. Uneatable and 0/10.

On Saturday I took the family to the Golden Bengal in Horsforth Leeds. Its a small unassuming looking place thats been their many years (as the Golden Gate') but was gutted and reopened by the same owner as the Golden Bengal about 18 months ago. Its got a kind of a homely whitey feel to it, with faux trendy decor, a bar and a big window along one wall into the kitchen. A sort of middle class, suburban whitey place.

We skipped starters but did have some poppadoms and pickles as they keep the kids quiet. Poppadoms were fresh and dry (8/10) and the pickles were good too (8/10), espescially the fresh onion chutney which was lovely.

For the main dishes we had:

A chicken tikka main dish which was served with fried onions and peppers. This was essentially for the eldest but we all shared a bit. It was very pleasant and scored a respectable 8/10.

A chicken massala, again very nice, with the chicken all being good quality and it being really nicely spiced. 8/10.

Chicken something or other naga. Billed as being hot and sour it didn't dissapoint. Again the chicken was excellent and the sauce was really nice. 9/10.

As acompaniments we had a pilau rice (delicatelycooked, all the grains good and seperate 9/10), a naan bread (a relative dissapointment as it seemed a bit 'heavy' and they usually do better, 5/10), 2 side salads (fresh and varied, 8/10) and a mixed vegetable side dish (this was superb, all fresh vegetables in a spicy, garlicky sauce 10/10).

We also commited to the full whitey experience with 2 Bangra lagers, 3 fruit juices, a tea, a coffee, and 2 ice creams for the kids. We were rewarded with the whitey staples of hot flannels to wipe our hands and a sweetie each with the bill (the latter having full whitey padding coming in at £53).

You'd struggle to afford to go there regularly but for a one off its a good place as the food is very fresh and noticeably different to elsewhere - with the place billing itself as offering 'Bengali cuisine'. Watching the chefs chopping ingrediants and cooking breads was pretty interesting too.

Hard to quantify really, I paid in roadkill.

Anyhoo, upcoming events:

1) bullterrier's birthday (13th March)
2) Asim's birthday (errr, about the same time)
3) The Catalans game and fostering cross border relations with the good people of Le Hudds de Field. (ar5e end of March)

One, some or all of therse merit curry. What say you, curry fans?

Near enough my birthday. So yes.

Hurrah & huzzah.

*It could also Bullseye's last supper.

Has anyone been to the Three Singhs on Sticker Lane? It looks nice from the outside, is it any good?

We went on work do just before xmas, it's fine, although some inverted snobs on here may think it too "whitey". The bar isn't particularly cheap but the food is good and reasonably priced, good surroundings and service, try to go later than earlier or you'll be eating by yourself.

The 18th to be precise!

If anyone fancies joining me for a curry they will be more than welcome, though I imagine I'll be somewhere in the Ukraine or Poland at the time.

We'll celebrate in your absence

I suppose I should be grateful you included the word "in"

I’ll pick up the gauntlet as I’d assume I’m one of the worst offenders.

I don’t see it as inverted snobbery but as common sense and is based on what do I want from a visit to a curry house and what do I consider to be value. My thinking goes like this:

The cost of making a curry doesn’t alter from one place to another. Unless the meat is free range organic (and it won’t be) it’ll be the same cost to buy for all curry houses. The same applies to the fresh ingredients and spices, which will all be bought for the same price from the same wholesalers.

So what are the other factors you might have to pay for?

Cleaning – doesn’t alter from place to place.
Chef – unless you’re employing a chef to cook ‘fancy’ dishes then I doubt the cost of a chef differs much from one place to another. A nominal impact if anything at all.
Waiters – again, unless you’re after silver service experience you won’t pay more/less for a waiter’s labour costs.
Uniforms – if the waiters are wearing fancy uniforms then you’re paying for it
Bar – if its got a bar its paying for a licence and you’re paying for it.
Parking – if its got a car park then you’re paying for it, it costs money to buy and maintain.
Parking attendant or ‘greeter’ at the door – a la Mumtaz for the former or Agraahs in Leeds for the latter, if there is one then you’re paying for him.
Location – if its in a posh city centre location then you’re paying for it.
Foyer – if space is being given up for a foyer or a cocktail bar or similar rather than for tables then every table that is there is expected to recoup more money to pay for it.
Décor – if it has funky décor then it’ll cost more money which you’ll be paying for on every meal. It’ll also need replacing more often upping the cost to the punter even further.
Furniture – as above, if its funky you’re paying for it.
Lighting – again as above, if there is fancy lighting then it costs more to buy, run and replace and you’re paying for it again.
Cutlery/plates – the fancier the pricier, the pricier the more the supplement you’ll be paying. Of course, if there’s no cutlery there’s no cost at all…



The other impact on prices is demand. If demand is high then (to a degree) so is cost, but demand doesn’t equate to quality – there’s huge demand for Mcdonalds but its still sh[ii[/ite.

Compare and contrast somewhere like Karachi or Kashmir where you can have 3 ‘courses’ for less than £6 with a Mumtaz, Agraahs, Akbars or indeed Three Singhs where you can pay more than double that just for a main course. The prices in the latter places aren’t higher because the food costs more to prepare but because there are a range of those extra costs loaded on (the décor/lighting/uniforms/car parks etc) to create an [iexperience[/i.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing though and doesn’t necessarily mean the food will be poor because there is a focus on the [iexperience [/ifactors.

For a works doo a more expensive place is ideal – not everyone likes curry, let alone likes good curry, some people feel safer in a fancy establishment, its probably a special occasion so you want to go somewhere fancy to match it (and don’t mind paying more for the one off ) and most of the people there will be at least as bothered about getting pi[is[/ised up as having a good meal so a bar is important. No problem with that.

The people that annoy me though are those that routinely go to these sort of places and herald them as something wonderful or even just patronise them frequently, claiming its not because of the experience but because of the food. I find that as nonsensical as it is self delusional.

The prices are higher for non food related factors – they’re paying for the experience and not the food but don’t like to admit it to themselves or others. Moreover, these sort of places recognise that their market is not one where food is important but experience is and tailor their menu and methods accordingly meaning that the food itself is frequently not as good as significantly cheaper places who only have the quality of their food to market themselves with, as they have the luxury of targeting the experience market. Take for example, reviews on here of Agraahs (by me) and the Three Singhs (by someone else) - the food is pretty variable despite the prices.

I’ve recently added reviews of visits to the Golden Bengal in Leeds and Mumtaz that were for occasions and fitted the bill very well. I paid a lot more but got food that was good at Mumtaz and excellent at the GB so I didn’t mind it too much but wouldn’t go to either regularly as it’s the food I go out for not the décor etc. For everyday curries I want high quality at low cost and if it can be busy at 7pm and doesn’t offer all the trimmings it probably offers both of those.


As regards the Three Singhs I wouldn't go there unless it was a group doo where I had no choice. The name just suggests servility and pandering to the sort of whitey ars[ie[/iholes I refer to as delusional above. I might be missing out on something special but for my requirements for good food first and foremost I doubt it.

Nail firmly hit on head, but why "whitey"

Its an APism used to describe the sort of clientele I mentioned above - white people who like all the trimmings, but wouldn't know a decent curry if it got up and danced on their table.

If my curry ever gets up and dances on my table, I'm leaving - decent curry or not.

While I agree to a certain extent with what was said, and I do believe Mumtaz is up there with that, as when I went there, the curry was no better (maybe go as far as saying "not as good"icon_wink.gif as the likes of International, Punjab etc.

However I do believe Akbars is different. If you ignore the lighting, bar, fancy waiters etc., the best two curries I've ever had, were at Akbars. Better than any I've had at any of the other curry houses, and that had absolutely nothing to do with anything other than the taste of the food.

It's certainly not my frequent curry house (that would be the International, where I'll probably pop tonight!), but as far as the best curry I've had from a pure taste point of view, it is Akbars.

I agree, too many people think places like that are the best simply because of non food related reasons, but I can't hide away from the fact they have still done the best curry I've had (and it is as good every time I've ordered it). And I've been to a lot of curry houses in the last 10 years.

I couldn't say about the Aagrah and other ones as I've not been to them.

Just because a place is "whitey" though, shouldn't bias you on the food being top quality.

I'd go along with all that Dilligaf.

I think the Aagrah mainly relies upon reputation as it was one of the first generation of "whitey" curry houses. It has however been left way behind.

Zouk's at the top of Leeds Rd good for breakfasts

I think places like Aagrah, Akbars & Shah Jehan become victims of their own success. People here were raving about the latter 2 before they won their awards when they were relatively small places; Shah Jehan I think still has the little place on Manchester Road. As they were not on my usual route i never called there before they expanded. I've been to Akbars 3 times but only eaten once; we got fed up of waiting behind the whitey lager crowd at the bar, despite reserving a table. The food was ok but not memorable. Shah Jehan took over the excellent & underrated Eastern Delight, but did smack of that empire subservience, the food being good though.
The original Aagrah in Shipley I went to a few times on works do's & enjoyed it every time. Since it has moved & expanded I've been on a few business lunches with suits who think buffet food is the real deal. The food was average at best, but I wasn't paying. I've also been on evenings on do's & with other couples & it has ranged from excellent to poor. Given the choice i wouldn't go again. I'd rather go to the local Shama in Bingley (there's also one in Shipley which I've not tried). Though there is a bar of sorts & the waiters are dressed up there is no element of sycophancy, the waiters call you mate & you can watch the food being prepared in front of you if you get a take away.

That's a big selling point. Any restaurant that makes feel like Colonel Blimp doesn't get my business.

I started off many years ago at places like the Karachi the Eastern,the sweet centre lumb lane and one just off manchester road that i cant remember the name of, almost always after a skinfull and always enjoying every visit.....later in life with family in tow we have tried the mumtaz,s and aargrah and the safron type eateries and TBH they are ok, as Puig-Aubert stated earlier in the post for special occasions or works outings ect ect...the food is usually good and authentic...but if i ask the wife and daughter where they want to go i get....

1st Samarkand.....Heckmondwike.
2nd Sweet lumb lane.
3rd Karachi.

I think mainly this is due to the fact if we go out to eat we, eat and leave, we dont go to make a night of it, unless it is an "occasion".I think this is the point.....Its like having a take-away but eating it in....

Incidentally, I went to the International last night and Mr Salty was cheffing.

I wish they'd sack him.

Get your blood pressure checked.



Mind you, if we get a sudden cold snap you'll probably not freeze.

Question for the 'more experienced' amongst you. I studied in Bradford 85-89 and was wondering if 'The Shimla' or 'The Rose of Kashmir' still existed on Gt Horton Rd near The Shearbridge Pub ? Kept me alive for 4 years they did. Also glad to read The Fighting Cock still revered.

The Shimla's still there but I don't know of a Rose of Kashmir. There's a Kashmir nearby, kinda, but it ain't on Gt Horton Road.

The pub ain't there anymore either btw. It was bought by a curry chain, I forget which, several years ago and has been left untouched with a sign on the side saying they'll be opening soon ever since.