Glasgow – Cafe Serena – A Tip Off

Harmony amongst the Bloggers

It was the Chaps at TATTGOC who made Hector aware of Café Serena (328-330 Maxwell Road, Glasgow, Scotland G41 1PJ).  Their experience has been limited to takeaways and mostly of the Tandoori variety.  Today Howard joined Hector to go and investigate the quality of the Curry proper.

Being Ramadan, the venue had opened slightly later so there was relief when the phone was answered just after 13.30 thus confirming they were open for business.  We were the first diners of the day.

I gather the place has been given a face lift in recent months.  The dining area sits twenty with a large table for eight which may prove useful if we return mob handed.  Throughout our visit the place appeared to be a two man operation, the Chap in the kitchen and the Chap out front dealing with the takeaways and ourselves.

The Lamb Karahi was available on-the-bone or off. No surprise then that we both chose the former.  A Special Rice, a Mushroom Rice and one Chapatti were the accompaniments.  We amused ourselves with some Rubicon Mango during the wait.  This fizzy, fruity drink is spreading around the Curry Café circuit.

We were treated to a freshly prepared Salad and Raita, so far so good.

The Curry arrived with very impressive looking Rice portions.  Visually this was already impressing.  The Special Rice had the Biryani look to it, coloured and lightly Spiced with a melange of Vegetables: Chick Peas, Onion, Peas, possibly Spring Onion too, and the smallest pieces of Capsicum.  The latter were not intrusive and so I have to give this the thumbs up. 

Lamb Karahi on-the-bone

The Karahi looked superb, the Masala was Onion rich and looked enticing.  A strip was torn off the very appealing Chapatti and the ritual dip revealed a Masala with a truly impressive flavour.  Gosh.

The Meat was an acceptable mixture of on-the-bone and off-the-bone.  My first sample was a piece of boneless Lamb.  It was decidedly Spicy as we had asked, but the flavour of the Masala was not there, just heat.  I tried a piece of Lamb on-the-bone, much better.

I could be wide of the mark, but I was left with the distinct feeling that two different pots had been sampled to create this dish.  This was a great pity, half of the Curry was superb, the other half not so.

The Chap came over half way through our feast to ensure all was well. I could only tell him – good – it could easily have been a – wonderful.

The Bill

£25.00   and this included four cans of Rubicon Mango.

Overall

This is certainly another welcomed addition to the Glasgow Curry Café scene. The Chap serving was most amenable and shook our hands as we left.  The décor is certainly a cut above the usual setting, a Café with ambience? The portions were more than adequate; a shared Rice would probably do most people. I shall return with Marg, I suspect she may love this place.