With business to attend to this afternoon in the West End, what better opperchancity to pop into Curry Pot (139 Dumbarton Road, Glasgow G11 6PR). At 18.20, Curry Pot was certainly open for business. Suriya came out from the kitchen to greet and take the Order. Despite a seeming overdose of Spinach in recent times, today had to be Lamb Saag (£9.50). This completes the coverage of the Lamb Dishes at Curry Pot, save the Karahi which may be had one day, when Simrat, Mein Host, agrees to drop the offending Ballast. As is the norm here, Mushroom Rice (£3.60) completed the Order.
The Bill
£13.10 The first time I have paid in advance.
Taking my usual spot, all the tables were set out with cutlery. A high table and two stools have been installed on the opposite wall, thus emphasising that sitting in is to be encouraged in this otherwise Takeaway. Curry Pot now seats ten.
I watched people pass by the door, plus those who stopped to read the menu posted in the window. Curry Pot may well become an oasis in Partick as it evolves into Glasgow’s Chinatown. It was therefore somewhat ironic when the first sit-in customers to join me this year were Chinese. Man cannot live by Ramen alone.
The young lady, who had next to no English, asked if there was a parking fee. Parking a car in the West End? Expect to pay heaps. I was amused to watch her use her smartphone camera to optically translate the menu back to Cantonese, or whatever.
I recall having to teach kids from Hong Kong in particular, thrown into a Geography class with seemingly no English. Which university has accepted this candidate?
Suriya brought out the food. Once again, the freshness of the Mushrooms impressed. As with last visit, I did not find the intense blast of Flavour from the Rice itself, but still pretty good. A sensible portion, every grain would be managed.
Lamb Saag
As is written oft, and as recent as last Friday when I served up Palak Gosht, there are two approaches to preparing this Curry. This Mash of Herbs is not my favoured style, here it was.
Thick, dark, moist, mysterious, the powerful Spinach-rich Mash was well Seasoned and the Spice built rapidly on the palate. Despite – dairy – being mentioned on the menu, this interpretation was thankfully remote from the Euro-style which is visibly – creamy. This was going to work.
A mere six pieces of meat, but five would be halved, enough. The Tender-firm Lamb was not giving back the Flavours of either Spice or Herb. One assumes the Meat came from The Big Pot and met the Spinach etc. moments before.
Towards the end of the meal, the Seasoning appeared to subside. Perhaps the palate had simply adjusted to the initial shock of the Spinach.
Suriya made a point of coming out to ask if I was enjoying my Curry.
Indeed I was.
The Aftermath
My fellow diners may have taken as many photographs of their food as I did.
What is Curry-Heute in Cantonese?
On the train home, the ritual Cumin Seed dislodged itself. It has been a while.
Visit #5, it may have taken twelve years to achieve this tally, however, the oversight is down to the Hector. Curry Pot is hereby reclassified from West End to – Glasgow’s Top Rated – and – Hector’s Recommended Curry Houses. Consequently, a Curry Pot summary page is also posted.