Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Pub Mein Kukkad......Blimey, Mate !

Brits do a lot of things well - fashion, museums, the tube, and of course, the staple of British alleys and nooks - pubs. I'm a fan of fish and chips, and for me, that's about as far as pub food went. I know of some great Colonial pubs in Manhattan, but never expected to find one in our little cubbyhole town.

The credit for this discovery must go to the husband, really. We seemed to have exhausted our usual routine, familiar restaurants (the kind where we no longer needed a menu to order), and wanted to try a new place. After a little digging, the husband came up with a quaint pub downtown. I was reluctant (fish and chips = diet disaster), but followed along when he promised an extensive menu.

Surprise, surprise ! In addition to some lovely, unusual dishes (spicy lamb burger, The Starving Artist - a hodge-podge of rice, beans, salsa and gravy), the menu featured........Butter Chicken. 

Wha.................... ?

It is unheard of to find an Indian dish on the menu, outside of Indian restaurants, in the US. Curiosity piqued, I ordered it (the husband went with the spicy lamb burger). Both dishes arrived looking beautiful, and smelling delicious.


The butter chicken

The lamb burger
The lamb burger was flavorful enough, but the husband had eyes on my butter chicken from the start. And for good reason - it far surpassed my expectations ! It had all the right spices, wasn't drenched in butter, and was boneless - so it checked all the boxes I grade chicken on. Sadly, Karim's memories never let me enjoy a good naan; if it isn't great, it doesn't count. But other than that, it was perfect; we wiped the plate clean.

Unexpected pleasures really are the best.


P.S. I'll be back (have to try the Starving Artist !).


4 comments:

  1. Trust you to find Butter Chicken in a Brit pub! I once had butter chicken pizza, in California Pizza Kitchen. It was goddamn awful :-(

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  2. lucky u, my experience with indian restaurant in US have also been painful if not more, let alone leave the Non-Veg once :)

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  3. @Purba - I've tried that too, and yes, it sucked. Which is why I was so skeptical about this place.

    @Vineet - I've been to some terrible desi places in the US, and some fabulous. The funny thing is, this wasn't even a desi place, and the butter chicken still turned out great !

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  4. Check the kitchens for a punju uncleji happily making naans and butter chicken :D

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