Yadgar! What do you mean you haven’t tried Yadgar?

This the only Saturday available in July for a Glasgow meeting of The Friends of Hector.

With the two Yadgar dissidents preoccupied, Yadgar (148 Calder Street, Glasgow G42 7QP) was the obvious place for our mid Saturday afternoon Curry binge.  Rain and punctuality was a feature of the last grand outing, today the rain persisted but our time keeping was perfection.  As ever the order had been pre-arranged with Shkoor, the Man.

We know what we like

I see Quail is on the menu, when did I last look at a Yadgar menu?  The Lamb Goshat Karahi is by far the best Curry dish served in the city of Glasgow, not to have this would be self denial taken to extremes.  The preference is therefore on-the-bone or off. Only two of the seven assembled chose off-the-bone.  They do not know what they are missing because the on-the-bone versions packs even more flavour.  I had also asked for it to be hotter than average but not ridiculously hot, we still need to let the unique taste that is a Yadgar Curry shine through.

Some business first

Jonathan arrived laden with plastic bags.  Today is the official unveiling of the Hector’s Holländisch Hootenanny,  a Brugge to far… shirt.  Belgium and the Netherlands await our pleasure next week.

The ritual begins

Fizzy mango was tried by a few of us for the first time; Tracey sorted out her Peshawari Tea at the start.  The bowls of complementary Onion Chutney and piles of Popadoms were brought out as if this was the norm in all houses.  Shkoor checked that we were all ready for the main event; we were under starter’s orders…

Dr Stan and Hector, Howard and Tracey were sharing the full kilo Karahi, Mags, Jonathan and Mr Boyd had normal portions.  Two Parathas and two Chapattis had also been pre-ordered.  The wonderful Vegetable Rice, Mushroom Rice, Egg Rice and Plain Pilau also came with great efficiency.

There was a slight hiccup, Mr Boyd a late addition, was off-the-bone, the verification of the order had not picked this up.  Having waited a few minutes longer for his main dish, the Rice was replaced with a fresh plate.  This is service.

This is the part of every Blog entry when Hector’s book of words lets him down.  One cannot describe the Yadgar Curry experience, one has to come along and experience it for oneself.  In recent weeks I have had wonderful Curries in Bradford and Crawley, among the best I have ever tasted.  Yadgar has to sit proudly in the list of the top (IMHO) Curry venues in the country and definitely the best in the West of Scotland. (There are Curry Houses in the East?)

Sharing a kilo of Lamb on-the-bone is possible, just.  One reaches the end and the zone of comfort has begun to be stretched.  (It needs three people to share the off-the-bone version.)  Dr Stan and Hector were very good boys and finished the Karahi.  Howard and Tracey did not quite manage; a very lucky Hector took the doggy bag.  The three portion eaters polished off their sensible orders, Mr Boyd silenced and invisible.  A first?

The Bill

The printout said £96, paying individually no-one paid more than £12 a head.  The drinks had also been on the house.  One feels that The Friends of Hector have done very well in our visits to Yadgar over the last year or so.

Spontaneous applause

One feels the desire to line the staff up and clap as we make our exit.  They keep asking if they can do more.  Enough already. There is no room for Dessert, anyway the Biers are calling.

The aftermath

Our group of seven grew to a mob of thirteen at The Allison Arms.  The fridge was not excellent on our arrival, but the cellar eventually revealed its secrets.  For the last two years we have had Pyraser at Source, today the bottled version would suffice, eventually…