Saturday 28 June 2008

Curry Naz - Osborne Road, Southsea

Funniest thing I heard this week was a colleague of my sisters claim that the curries round here are 'nothing like the curries in Luton'...'I've tried the Madhuban and I don't see what the fuss is about, etc etc'. The grass will always be greener on the other side for some - even when the other side is Luton, known for its Airport and Vauxhall plant: concrete and industry.

Whether or not Luton deserved the title of 2004's 'crapest town' is irrelevant when considering the merits of 'Curry Naz', a traditional kind of curry house. Smart yellows and blues, an atmosphere that leads one to sweetly reminisce of rose tinted pre new labour days! The restaurant’s been a stalwart on the Southsea scene of some time, a reputation built on tasty food and inobtrusive service. Staff, polite, discreet, calm and experienced appeared at the table with food, left quietly, appeared again in between a lull in conversation to ask if everything was ok, before slipping away until they judged our eating to be over.

The meal began with run of the mill poppadoms before a decent starter of Jeera Chicken. Strips of tandooried chicken breast in a salted smoky marinade, scattered with cumin seeds. Next up, juicy Balti Lamb Jalfrezi, demonstrating a super concentration of flavours. Well developed curry aromas, spicy scorching green and red chillies, gingery twangs (coriander seeds) and mustardy pangs made for a great dish. A rich, cinnamon strong Keema Peas (another old favourite on the menu) achieved similar standards. Bhindi (Okra) with just a little charcoaled sweetness and fluffy pilau were quite acceptable, though a Roti was a little crisp and mean.

Minor issues aside Curry Naz appears a jolly reliable purveyor of almost excuslively North Indian cuisine akin to that which thrived in this country 20 years ago. Tops the Golden Curry on the evidence so far. TBC!

FOOD: 3.5
VALUE: 3
SERVICE: 5
AMBIENCE: 3

Willp2328 score: 7/10

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