London – Drummond Villa – Euston, We Have A Problem

Today, Hector finds himself in that London. The 08.40 from Glasgow arrived at Euston bang on schedule. Did the driver slow down in the last five hundred metres to arrive at exactly 13.12? Lord Clive and Lady Maggie of Crawley were there to meet, a Euston Curry was already agreed.

With Putney the eventual destination this afternoon, a city centre Curry House was required. With the demise of – The India Club – at Strand, new venues had to be considered. Dr. Bernard had the Hector survey Tooting last year, subsequently he highlighted the cluster near Euston Station. Indeed, this is where the Hector first had London Curry dating back to the 1970s.

Drummond Villa (118 Drummond St., Camden, London NW12 HN England) is spoken of highly in other sources. Drummond Street runs parallel to Euston Street, the latter is blocked off due to a massive construction project that is taking nobody anywhere, and at great cost to us all.

We arrived at Drummond Villa at 13.30. The mirrors on the back wall created the illusion of vast premises. The place is actually tiny, but is there is an overflow downstairs adjacent to the kitchen.

We were given the window table. From there I could see the line of Curry Houses across the street. There were many to choose from, I had chosen this one.

Tablecloths! – remarked Maggie.  This was not our usual Punjabi Curry Cafe.

Drinks were sorted, 330ml bottles of both Still and Sparkling Water (£3.50) suited Maggie and Hector. Clive was not playing, but a glass of tap water eventually came his way. Why is the same sized quantity of Fanta only £2.50?

On presenting the Water, the waiter put the Sparkling in front of me then proceeded to open Maggie’s Still. He then switched claiming he had them the wrong way round. I advised him accordingly, he wasn’t having this.

So the Hector cannot read?

We switched back after he went away. Stupid boy, and quite distracted overall.

Whilst Maggie inspected downstairs, I advised Clive that Dansak was on the menu, his usual fallback. Chicken Dansak (£10.20) it would be, with a Keema Naan (£2.95). Nothing in the – Chef’s Specials – seemed so. I liked the grid showing the Standards, and also the description of the Roghan Josh. Tomato, not the Creamy version which keeps appearing currently. Lamb Roghan Josh (£11.75) and Pilau Rice (£3.30) for the Hector. Maggie, who said she was starving, chose Lamb Korahi (£11.20) with a Chapatti (£2.10). £2.10 for a Chapatti?

Maggie asked for – medium Spice. The waiter didn’t consult the chaps.

Deliveries were ongoing as we waited. Some brought to the counter, a box left at the top of the stairs leading down to the kitchen. A group of six, very loud too, sat at the far end of the room. The wait for the food felt appropriate.

The Chapatti, served in bits, was weird. Some parts looked traditional, others layered and puffy. The Keema Naan was comparatively small, and again served quartered. Brown Meat was confirmed inside, decent.

The portion of Pilau was definitely in the – sensible – category. The Hector would manage all but the final grains. Not a scrap of Bread would be left.

Lamb Korahi

Here was a classic example of why I never order Karahi in a Mainstream Curry House. Just how many pieces of Capsicum were there? Big blobs of Ballast, Onion too, horrendous. From where was the Chef? Not from Whitechapel or Tooting, that’s for sure. There was a Karahi in there, somewhere.

Maggie lined up all the pieces of the Offending Vegetable on her plate. However, having discarded them she ate the lot. Maggie was hungry, not a morsel left.

The size of portion was right for me. The onion and the capsicums were in large lumps which did not appeal to me. The spice was medium hot. Lots of chunks of meat which came apart easily in the mouth, didn’t have to chew it (much).

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Chicken Dansak

The Daal looked a bit reddish rather than the expected orange. The consistency of the Masala was viscous.

Having written Clive’s comments on many a Dansak, I asked him the burning question:

Is that the best Dansak you’ve ever had?

Apparently not.

Not the best Dansak in the World but a good one. My initial reaction, it was a bit small, but there was plenty of meat. The meat to sauce ratio was good.

I expect my Naan to arrive in one piece.

Lamb Roghan Josh

Tomatoes! Lots of Tomatoes! Initially I thought there was hardly any meat in the handi, however double figures was reached. The Lamb was well buried under the half-cooked Tomatoes. Tomatoes, so much better than Capsicum, never Ballast, an integral part of any Curry. The Masala was not excessive, a decent consistency.

Where was the Spice? There was absolutely no – kick – here. Was this Curry – the blandest thing on the menu?

The Seasoning fared a bit better, however, this only highlighted the underlying Flavour. In a recently purchased Takeaway (back home) I described the Curry as having a – soapy Clove – Flavour. Here it was again, without the Clove, just the soap.

What was the source of this? The answer was actually staring me in the face!*

The Tender Meat was giving nothing back, but then what Spice was there for it to be able to do so? This could easily have been a Euro Curry, so undemanding, totally lacking in depth of Flavour. This was Curry from a bygone age.  We don’t do this any more.  Evidently, we do. How remote was this from a proper Punjabi Curry?

The Bill

£53.35   This included a £4.85 service charge, cheeky.

The Aftermath

Maggie complained to the waiter about the mass of Capsicum.

The Calling Card was given to the waiter. Curry-Heute was shown on the trusty Oppo. The page to hand was the recently posted Banana Leaf (Glasgow). I highlighted the Chukka and the Chettinad.

You don’t have anything like that here. I take it this is a Bangladeshi restaurant?

The waiter confirmed my deduction.

I pointed to the box outside still sitting at the top of the stairs.

No self respecting Punjabi House would put Cabbage* in their Curry.

Whereas, this is typical of Bangladeshi cooking. Cabbage, presumably the source of the source of the – soapiness.

Hector is not a fan of Bangladeshi or Nepalese Curry, and only wears a Thai when eating steak pie

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