Curry- Heute is eight years old – today.
Rue du Faubourg St. Denis is the street which separates Gare du Nord and Gare de l’Est. To the south it ends at the grand arch Porte Saint-Denis on Boulevard de Strasbourg, however it is split by Boulevard de Magenta which makes appear to be two separate streets on the map. Confused? I was yesterday, but not today.
Rue de Faubourg is easily found at the south east exit of Gare Du Nord, Lahore Lahore (158 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis, 75010 Paris) is a few metres from there. The display board outside had a seductive photo of Lahori Karahi, let me in.
Agneau – Lamb Karahi? – I asked the Chap who served.
No Lamb Karahi.
The Menu poster above the counter also showed Lahori Karahi (€40.00). Ouch!
I then surveyed the Dishes on display, I instantly felt at home. Here were Dishes similar to what I would see in a Glasgow (Scotland) Punjabi Curry House.
Agneau Curry?
A tray of Lamb Shorva sat deeper behind the counter, success.
With Rice please.
Marg asked for her usual Samosas (€2.00) then decided to add one piece of Vegetable Pakora.
I took my seat mid-room but was invited back to the counter to pay.
Payer Avant de Manger S.V.P. – a sign said above the counter.
The Bill
€7.00 (£6.20). Suddenly I felt hungry.
I surveyed the scene once more.
Can you add some Vegetable Curry too?
The Chap took this in his stride. I expected to pay extra. No more money changed hands.
Marg’s Modest Lunch was presented, then Hector’s massive plateful. All this for €5.00? This is better than Manchester’s Curry Cafes. I counted five pieces of Meat and spotted some Bones. This was the real deal. Pity I had failed to locate Lahore Lahore yesterday.
The Samosas and Pakora were dispatched with efficiency. The Pakora was mainly Potato and was a bit soggy, same for the Samosas. Marg put this down to being reheated in the microwave.
Tasty though – she confirmed.
I had little choice today but to take things slowly. A Noon Curry is a bit early, the digestive system takes a while to reboot. The Vegetable Curry had Peas, Carrots, Green Beans and a little Potato in a Minimal Masala. This was a Classic Curry, gently Spiced and well Seasoned. Each individual Vegetable added its own distinctiveness to the Overall Flavour. The taste-buds were most certainly working in full appreciation mode today.
The Meat didn’t appear to be much in Quantity, worried that I had as much Bone as Meat, I took things easy. Then I found that only a splinter was in one of the pieces, and three were Boneless. I had quite enough Meat here.
The Shorva had long disappeared into the abundant Rice. There was more Rice here than I could ever eat. The Lamb Curry had such a familiar Flavour, has Chef been to Manchester? The Flavour of the Tender Lamb came through, I was impressed even though the Spice Level was markedly low. I would not describe this Lamb Curry as – something outstanding – in UK terms, however, after yesterday’s disappointment at Shan, it was totally fulfilling.
The Aftermath
I took the Calling Card to the Chap who had served (second from right) me even though it was evident that Mein Host was now on the premises. He showed it to the Boss, the Website was then revealed. Permission for photos was granted then the Staff lined up. Excellent, thank you.
For those travelling around Europe on a budget, Lahore Lahore is an excellent Paris venue to call at. One gets fed here.
And so to do the touristy things. After the Tour Eiffel we passed an interesting looking venue at Pigalle – Food Centre. Afghani Korma? Very tempting.
