Trips to Crawley sometimes feature a day in Brighton. Having visited UnBarred last year, Hector couldn’t get back to Brighton quick enough. It was therefore a bonus on returning to Curry Leaf Cafe – Brighton Lanes (60 Ship St., Brighton BN1 1AE England) to find an UnBarred Bier on their menu. Clive ordered the Abyss (Lewes).
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We arrived at 14.45, fifteen minutes before their mid afternoon break. Fortunately, we were still able to order the Thali Platters, the price of which have increased by £3.00 since this time last year. Where does the Government get 10% inflation?
Today the Meat Platter was – Hyderabadi Lamb Thali (£16.50), a veritable mountain of food.
Hyderabadi Lamb Thali
The Mini Poppadoms went straight into the Mix Veg Pickle Dip, very tasty. However, the strength of Pickle can wipe out the taste-buds receptive capabilities for what follows. The Daal was served – hot – and so provided an interesting alternative to the cold Pickle, a decent Daal. Clive’s tactic was to dip his Naan into the Daal, a time consuming feat given their relative dimensions.
The third pot contained shredded Carrots and what I thought might be Turnip. I asked – Mooli – an Indian Radish. Mooli Poriyal – was actually written on the menu, not that I would have worked that out otherwise. Only the three pots, last year it was five and two Onion Bhaji.
Whilst that which was meant to be served hot, truly was, Hector hates footering whilst the Mains cool. The Onion Bhaji was too hot to handle on arrival. Once it was manageable, it was devoured, the Pickle and Daal once more came into vogue. Thali is not something I order often, it’s like a kiddies play set of Indian food. The Bhaji was well fired and thoroughly Seasoned. The Flavours here came across strongly, so the taste-buds hadn’t been wiped out. An excellent Bhaji, it was like – having an English. In Scotland, we have our Pakora.
It was time to address the Curry and Rice. The Rice was emptied on to the tray, the Hyderabadi Lamb arranged on top. There was still plenty of Daal and Carrot/Mooli on the periphery, diversity was certainly the name of the game.
The Rice portion was surprisingly large, defeat would be inevitable. With Cloves and Black Peppercorns, this was full on, Flavoursome in its own right. Then there was the quartered Naan. Cooked round, with enough blisters to confirm its efficacy, this was a sound Naan. Unlike Zari (Ifield, Crawley) a few days ago, Hector would not manage to finish this Naan.
The Masala had a Mint Leaf garnish, would Curry Leaf not have been more apt? The Tender Lamb was Dry, Earthy. Although the Masala looked the part, it was void of Seasoning, and consequently was lacking in Flavour. A pity, it was all going so well until this point. The detailed description of what was in the Masala was lost on me. This is when the remaining components came into play. The Carrots/Mooli added a crunch and some more Flavour. The Daal and Rice worked well, even though that in itself was a strange combination. Time to scrape the Pickle Pot. Everything bar the Masala had something to offer. Seasoning has not been an issue here before.
Clive eventually reached the Curry, he did not share my view on the lack of Flavour:
Very hot in temperature, I thought the Curry was quite tasty, and the meal as a whole was absolutely ample.
Does anyone manage to finish this? – I asked the chap when he relieved us of our trays.
Some do – was the reply.
I congratulate – the some.
The Bill
£44.12 A somewhat expensive lunch, but there was Bier.
The Aftermath
There was time to finish the Bier, in no way were we being hurried, despite it being well after closing.
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2022 Menu
