cockney pommy

it amazes me that none of them seem to have set up good curry houses or takeaways in oz, especially in a high uk poulated area, especially considering how bad the curries are here
wouldn't they make a killing?

LAM

Profile of The Spice Avenue Balti Restaurant in Birkdale

We are the first Balti restaurant in QLD. Indian food - UK style. A different style of indian cooking originating in Birmingham. Fully licensed and BYO Bottled Wines Only.

PaulandNic

A friend who's a chef said you can't get the 'authentic ingredients' here, or something like that ...

I'm sure someone will tell me you can get all you can in the UK, but if the 4 or 5 I've had here are anything to go by, I say you can't as they were all cack compared!

A decent Ruby is simply a thing of the past!

cockney pommy

thanks for letting me know
i live in sydney but will defenitely visit the restuarant when i visit QLD again

sammyg

Mate, don't bother the spice avenue is about as good as a pretty crappy uk curry...nowhere near the quality of a good uk curry house

if you appreciate a quality curry the spice avenue just doesn't cut it in our opinion.... the only upside is that they use chicken breast - if you like a chicken tikka masala it's ok but not a lot better than an uncle bens!!! BUT if you like a nice, pungent , full of flavour curry FORGET IT!!!! - nan bread is good though

SarahJane2007

Theres a whole thread on here devoted to the Balti in Birkdale, I think a good few of us will beg to differ!

PaulandNic

I wanted to say this earlier. NOT from experience, but I've just heard this from a few others so haven't bothered venturing up yet.

I'm guessing it's all down to how good your local curry house was in the UK. Ours was a UK top 10 winner (Abbots Tandoori in Hertfordshire) and was our weekly treat getting a take away every Saturday.

God I miss it, and would travel 100k's easy to eat something half as good!

cockney pommy

all the curry places even the worst in uk were better than the best i tried here
i make curries myself now cos i do it better than the restuarants

PaulandNic

Agreed!

I was back in the UK last Nov and had 2. Both was sold to me as 'mediocre', local - handy! ... but to me they was lovely!

I wanna curry now!!! ... :curse:

asprilla

I reckon you're right.... In the UK, someone told me that many curry houses use one particular type of paste, that they buy in bulk, as a base for all recipes. Then they add ingredients to taste, and you end up with a nice, thick, creamy curry sauce. The type that we don't get over here !

Nu-Shooz

Open one then, you will be rich beyond your wildest dreams

PaulandNic

Yeah well he's a top chef and makes a decent enough curry! ... but he said he's being held back as he can't get the right ingredients over here ...

Saying all this tho, we found a place that's local, had just opened up and got a curry one night and it WAS decent enough. Ok, no way near the quality we was used to in the UK, but for here it was by far the best!

All looked good till the following week and the next one, well the taste was as good, but the chicken was a REAL funny colour ... Tasted ok, but my mind was telling me I was eating dog! ...

I complained and was offered a free meal next time, but didn't take up the offer as I've of prob been served cat! ...

We DO tho live in hope!

moneypenny20

Don't know what your mate is on Paul but you can and do get all the 'pukka' ingredients here. It's definitely what you're tastebuds are used to. We loved our local in the UK, were there once a week and no other seemed to measure up but one in a neighbouring village was pretty good. When we were back recently we first went to the other one and were really disappointed compared to what we have down here.

A few days later we had a takeaway from our favourite and whilst it was good, it didn't seem any different to what we've got used to. We did discover that Cheesy Naan, which first born loves, is an Aussie thing. They didn't have a clue at either of the UK ones.

I know you've tried a couple down this way and weren't impressed but we're pleased with what we have close by so everyone's different. We'll get a takeaway from another we've used once and let you know. We liked it but you need to visit more than once to get a good idea. I'll let you know but it's south of us so a fair distance from you, especially if you're moving.

Have to say, we've been once to Spice Avenue and whilst it was nice it wasn't as good as I'd been led to believe.

PaulandNic

Well old mate is Russ who you know, I think ...

Anyway, yeah we're all different and all the rest, and I'm tempted to say we was spoilt with the one we used in Abbots, but at the same time the 2 I had when back last year, they was 10/10 compared to ANY I've had here!

As I say, I'll live in hope! ...

moneypenny20

I'll ring him and tell him he's taking poo