Brugge – Taj Mahal – A Brugge, Curry, at last!

Today was the first day in Hector’s Hollandisch Hootenanny, a Brugge too far, when everything had actually gone like clockwork.

‘T Brugs Beertje was open, Daisy was back from vacation, the Chaps were in appreciative mode when Hector left them to try and secure a Brugge Curry.

Sitar was now a Pizza restaurant, along the same street.  The Indien Klassieke is now renamed the Taj Mahal (Philipstockstraat 6, 8000, Brugge) a venue which looked as if it was being refitted back in February when Marg and Hector last walked along this street. Hector had passed today earlier, the sign said open from 12.00 until 15.00. They weren’t.

This was the last chance saloon: I left Daisy’s at 20.30 and crossed the Maarkrt to the Taj Mahal. The door was open, the lights were out, there was some activity.

‘Are you open?’ Clearly they weren’t but this not deter a Hector in search of a Curry-Heute.

‘We are closed on Mondays.’

‘You are never open.’

‘I was here in February and you did not open all week.’ A slight exaggeration, I was there three nights.

The Chap mellowed: ‘I will cook you a Curry, what do you want?’

Lamb, Herbs, Coriander were all listed. This would be very much a case of take what one can get, it could not be worse than the Himalaya in Gent, surely?

There was much cleaning going on, I was told Monday was cleaning day. Two Poppadoms, the good ones, laced with Cumin were set before me. Two dips too.

This was a genuine Indian Curry House, staffed by Indians. There was hope. There was time to enquire – who was doing the cooking? – about what happened to their neighbours. Apparently their Chef trumped a Nepalese Chef, end of…

The Chef was not present, this was a Curry prepared by the new manager. If a Curry House cannot knock out some sort of Curry at short notice there must be something wrong. I was told later that this was the preparation for lunchtime tomorrow. Many Scots and English apparently frequent their premises.

The dim of the night

The Curry arrived. I sat, The Lone Diner in the semi darkness. The restaurant was closed, what is the opposite of a lock-in?

The Lamb was slightly tough, it could have done with another hour. The portion was not huge and no Vegetable was present as I would have preferred. Plain Rice was the accompaniment. Still, this Curry was the proverbial gift horse.

The Masala was splendid, the use of Onion was most evident, this was a Curry. The taste was not overwhelming, but it had some pedigree. A small bowl of fresh Green Chillies was put before me, a nice touch, I left one. It took no time to wolf down the meal. A Lamb Curry at last, one that I can remember for the best of reasons.

The Curry was genuine, it was prepared by the Manager in a restaurant that was actually closed. You do not make this up. Pity this Blog did not start some years ago and I could relate the tale of the Koln Curry House where the place was in fact being locked up and we still managed to sit in and eat Curry.

This is a Curry Hector will never forget. I express my thanks and appreciation to Ramanjot/Gurjit for the hospitality.

The Bill

€17 was the list price according to the lovely lady with the menu, €15 was taken.

I did not leave my card, it felt too threatening to do so at the time. I shall post one the old fashioned way soonest.

The train back to Gent was caught with two minutes to spare, a perfect day out.

A full description of the day, without Curry, is at Bier-Traveller.com