This was Neil’s discovery in his wanderings around the area of Gent Sint Pieters, the main railway station. This in itself was a good omen.
On our return from the day trip to Antwerp which will have full coverage on Bier-Traveller.com, we entered Salt’n Pepper (Maria Hendrikaplen 38, 9000, Gent) just on 21.00. The restaurant was full except on table for seven in the corner covered in debris from the previous occupants. We were four. The table became ours and took some time to be cleared. This gave us time to work out that few people were eating, most were waiting for their main courses. The occasional Samosa was brought out, the wait would be a long one.
Much, much more than one Robin
We had to convince Robin that he had to choose between going or staying, he chose to stay.
Hector ordered a Bier! Keeping tabs on the progress of Glasgow Rangers v Malmo, and the slow but sure serving of the other diners, a glass of Kasteel Blond was the suitable accompaniment. Neil had the Brun. Howard had a cola, Robin some water, we were set.
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The Order
Moghulai Kadai Gosht (hot) was sought by Howard and Hector. Robin ordered Lamb Biryani, and Neil the Bengal Fish. We were assured that Rice and Nan came with the meals. A couple of Poppadoms made an appearance along with a single Dip.
The Long Wait
By the time the meal arrived Rangers looked as though they were well out of the Champions League. A home defeat… The plates arrived just after 22.00, normally Robin would have been well gone.
The Kadai was advertised as – traditional Indian cooking. The staff all looked Indian, so they know what Curry is. Once again I find myself asking why they serve up this poor impersonation of Curry? It is surely as easy to present proper Indian food as it is to produce this bland nonsense. The Masala in the Kadai at least was Onion based, this had been pureed. The Lamb was fine but one felt had just been introduced to the Masala, not cooked in it.
The colour was wrong, the taste was wrong: Sweet. The plain Pilau Rice and the lack of any Vegetable made this a rather uninteresting meal to eat, no diversity of texture or flavour. We had asked for it hot, a waste of time evidently. I felt the Nan was the best part of the meal, Robin thought it was the worst.
Robin’s Biryani came with plain Pilau Rice and the Lamb buried underneath. No Vegetables in the Rice, no side dish of Masala. Is this a Biryani? Robin stated that this was the worst Curry he has had for some time, and he cannot remember the last one this poor.
Howard had already accessed a social medium to air his feelings – dreadful.
Neil thought his Bengal Fish was quite good. We had a dip of his Masala and thankfully it was more appropriate. I did not think the Onion content of the Masala was credible, Neil may disagree.
We were hungry, it took us ten minutes to eat and leave.
The Bill
€77.00 There was no tip.
I gave the Calling Card to the waitress, the Chef appeared around the counter smart-ish to find out the progeny.
Update 2023
It should not come as a surprise that this place is closed.
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It was a dark and stormy night. It was raining cats and dogs and there were poodles everywhere. Actually it wasn’t raining and I was looking forward both to a proper sit down meal and a curry to boot.
First bad sign was that the previous diners had left 50 cents tip. As it turned out this was too generous. The service was slow and I mean slooow. Job would have lost his patience.
The mid nineteen seventies was not a bad time for me. In 1975 I saw The Who and Led Zeppelin, left school, went to university and had my first kebab. I was reminded of this by the curry. Little taste and a sauce that had been liquidised. We also asked for it hot (‘fraid not). Actually, I don’t think I ever had such a bland curry in the seventies. Dreadful.