Dhanmondi - 14th March 2012

Good food, warm welcome, shame I've lost the notes.  But we had a good time and enjoyed ourselves...

March meeting - Dhanmondi, Whitehill - Wednesday 14th

The table is booked! The venue for March is Dhanmondi Tandoori, on the A325 Petersfield Road, in Whitehill. Aperitifs will be taken at the Woodlark from about 19:30, and dinner is booked for 20:30.  

Dhanmondi was listed as one of the 100 top British restaurants in the 2007 British Curry Awards and they've always looked after us very well.

Please let me know either through the web site feedback page or by e-mail whether you expect to attend or not.

This Google Map takes you close to Dhanmondi, but someone has put the locator pin in the wrong place. It's actually on the corner of Stubbington Avenue, 100 yards or so north of the point shown.


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Paradise Balti - 8th February

Due to work commitments, it's been quite a while since I last went to a Curry Club meeting at Paradise Balti. It's changed, looks brighter and more modern.  The new decor wasn't the only good thing - the cooking was really well done, with distinct flavours and a choice of mouth-watering dishes.

Sometimes we find that our venue tries to overdo the variety, with the effect that many dishes are similar to each other, and people can miss out on the one they really want to try. Instead, after papadums and a mixed starter, our hosts offered us five main dishes: a chicken tikka masala, chicken tikka jalfrezi, meat vindaloo, lamb tikka balti and a prawn korai. These were accompanied by cheese and peshwari naans, pilau rice, sag paneer, gobi tomato and Bangladeshi dhal. Everything tasted good - even the CTM, which I'd normally avoid on grounds of excessive mildness, in fact had some heat and was very pleasant.

This was a great evening, thoroughly enjoyed by us all. The team at Paradise made us welcome, served really tasty food, and moved themselves up the list for a return visit sooner rather than later. I was actually surprised by how good the food was, compared with a previous visit a couple of years ago. Well done.

We agreed the schedule for the next three months, subject to booking and confirmation:

Date	Venue
14 March	Dhanmondi, Whitehill
11 April	Malabon, Petersfield
09 May	Bay Leaf, Grayshott

Paradise Balti House:   01730 265162/262748

February meeting - Paradise Balti, Petersfield

The table's booked, and the Paradise Balti looks forward to welcoming us on Wednesday 8th February. Dinner will be at 20:30, and aperitifs will be taken as usual at the Red Lion from about 19:30. Paradise has always been one of the mainstays of the curry club, so it's quite a surprise to me that we last visited in April. For a change, the second Wednesday of this February is as early as it possibly can be, and so our meeting won't clash with or be too near to Valentine's Day. Gentlemen, you hadn't forgotten all about it, had you? Instead, we can concentrate on other affairs, such as beer, curry, and the opening weekend of this year's RBS Six Nations.

Please confirm by e-mail or through the feedback page of the web site, to less us know whether or not you expect to make it.

By the way, if you hadn't already spotted my horrid mistake in the January send-out, the March meeting will be on Wed 14th at Dhanmondi, not Wed 7th.

Looking forward to a convivial meeting as usual, see you on Wednesday 8th.

Madhuban - January 2012

We enjoyed a convivial meeting on 11th January, even though the arrangements were slightly disturbed by the fact that the Bluebell Inn was closed.  A quick series of texts and phone calls let all our regulars know that we'd start at the Spreadeagle instead. On a slightly chilly and damp night, this was a very pleasant place to take our aperitifs.

Dinner was delayed a few minutes by the need to ferry those without cars up to the resturant, but we had a warm welcome from the staff at the Madhuban.  They selected a really interesting menu for our meal.  After papadums and a very good mixed starter, the main courses included Jungli Mas (lamb with bay leaves and red chillis), Korma Murchwangan (mild-to-medium chicken in a red sauce), Madhuban's special lamb, served in a balti, and a delicious mixed vegetable curry.  Pilau rice and naan breads accompanied.  Everyone was delighted with the range of great flavours and the sheer quality of the food. Nothing was excessively chilli-hot, so everyone could taste every dish.  It's worth a mention that the full menu (pdf download here) offers a whole range of tempting delights.  I'm plotting a return trip to try the Naga chilli stir fry. 

The Madhuban does everything to make your visit a great experience.  This was a fine way to spend a winter evening, and we'll visit again sooner rather than later.

Web: www.madhubanrestaurant.co.uk