The Times

A curry, twice a week, is good for you.  The Times, 05/08/2015

August meeting - Wed 12th - Paradise Balti

The table is booked - Paradise Balti is our venue for August.  On Wednesday 12th, aperitifs will be at The George from 19:30 and then dinner is at 20:30 at the Paradise.

Please let us know if you'll be able to attend, using either the web site feedback page or by reply to the e-mail notice to members. 

As mentioned in the review on our blog ('Great Tuesday Evening') the September meeting will be on Tuesday 8th in Grayshott, when we get to visit the Bay Leaf again.

The web master is away on Wednesday 12th Aug so there will be another organiser on the night.  Have a good one!

Great Tuesday evening

Instead of sticking rigidly to our 'second Wednesday 20:30' schedule, we've decided to experiment with some meetings on Tuesdays and different starting times.  July's Curry Club meeting was the first time that we tried this,  and we chose the Malabon in Petersfield as our venue.   


We were welcomed warmly and then enjoyed papadums with pickles, followed by a mixed starter of chicken chat, onion bhaji and dhal puri. As usual, we left the choice of dishes to the restaurant. After all, they're the experts and know what tastes best. They didn't disappoint.

Main courses included

• Ghosht lajawal (mild lamb curry)
• Panch mela (five vegetables)
• Rajeshwari chicken (medium hot)
• Madras suba (mixed vegetable curry)
• Chicken Naga: a subtle naga chilli taste made for a delicious curry without uncomfortable burn to the tongue
• Ghosht Katter, a fairly spicy lamb and chana dhal dish, was served as an additional main course and greatly enjoyed

The side dishes were plain and garlic naans, and pilau and mushroom rice. This was a very good meal which really suited our members - nothing bland, plenty of assertive flavours without uncomfortable heat. Even our hot chilli expert was satisfied, and that's a sign that Malabon is producing some brilliant flavours. We'll go again soon.

The plan for the summer is to try 19:00 aperitifs and 20:00 dinner for both of the next two meetings:

• August: Wednesday 12th at Paradise Balti (aperitifs at the Drum if the refurbishment is complete, otherwise at the George) 
• September: Tuesday 8th at Bay Leaf, Grayshott (aperitifs at the Fox and Pelican)

(Parts of this review have also been submitted to TripAdvisor)

July meeting - TUESday 7th - Malabon!

Thank you to everyone that took part in the survey - it's been really helpful to have your opinions about the day of the week and timing for our future meetings.  The key results are:

1) A mix of Tuesday and Wednesday meetings was top preference for over half of the members that responded, and the second preference for everyone else; a small number prefer Wednesday only and a similar number, Tuesday only. 

2) Almost everyone prefers to go to the pub for aperitifs;  there was a very small lead for 18:30 over 19:30 (our usual timing).

So it's time for the experiment - we'll try a Tuesday meeting.  The table is booked!  Dinner is at Malabon at 19:30 on Tuesday 7th July.  Aperitifs will be at the Red Lion from about 18:30.  As this is a new departure - we've stuck firmly to the 2nd Wednesday for many years - please help by letting me know as soon as possible if you expect to be there, either for aperitifs or straight to the restaurant.   You can do this through the feedback page of the website or in response to the members' e-mail notice. 

Looking forward to seeing as many as possible on Tuesday 7th!

Spice Lounge again on 10th June! And a survey...

We had a small turnout for the May meeting, but we were well looked-after and food was very good and plentiful.  The five that attended decided that it was well worth a revisit in June, so that's the venue.  The table is booked!  The Old Drum is closed for refurbishment;  aperitifs will again be taken at the George.

Once again, I'll ask the John and Fiona to be the organisers on the evening.  Wednesday commitments are making it impossible for me to attend as often as I'd like, and other members have the same issue.  There's also been feedback that 20:30 is a late time for dinner and some suggestions that it should be moved earlier.

Members are asked therefore please  to fill out our short (three question) survey that I've put together using SurveyMonkey.  I'll send a link to it with the June meeting notice.  Please also let me know a.s.a.p. whether you plan to attend the June meeting on Wednesday 10th: aperitifs at the George from 19:30, dinner at Spice Lounge at 20:30.  You can use the feedback page on the website or reply to the e-mail to let me know if you'll be at the meeting.