bassking

Hi all,

We've been living in Auckland 4months now, and whilst there is no shortage of "nice" Indian restaurants (oh Calcutta in Parnell is decent), none quite hit the spot. The poppadoms are an issue for a start... Maybe the pile of poppadoms with chutneys is an English thing...?

If anyone can help me out, I'd be most grateful!

Cheers!

Nice Guy

Ekkkkkkk!!!!

The 'C' word again!!

Seriously I am sure someone will be along to advise you in just a mini mo!

Meanwhile I shall give you some Karma.

P18PPS

we travelled far and wide for a really decent curry and while several were quite nice, none really compared to the ones back in Birmingham (our home town). Far too much tomato soup added to sauces rather than "proper" stuff for my liking.

We haven't really had problems with not enough poppadoms though.

Anyway, we finally tried one right on our doorstep and found that Curry Village in St Heliers was the best of the bunch - so far. There is also one in Remuera but we haven't tried that one.

I am sure there will be others around, Sandringham seems to have lots of Indian restaurants but the two we tried were average.

The other point I suppose is that curry's in England are made more "english" than traditional curries so they will be different to what we are used to.

Bo-Jangles

I would also be interested in places people rate highly these days, as I think there are some better ones about now, compared to when we first arrived here. A new one I wanted to try 'Urban Turban' down at Wyndham Quarter but we've not made it there yet.

We have scoured around dozens of them in and outside of Auckland and just gave up trying, after about two years of continual disappointments. You just have to find the one that's right for you, but finding 'the' one can be a mission. Besides it's all obviously a matter of personal opinion or taste and what you are used to. Some I have seen people rated really highly and then gone there and not liked it at all. There's none that I would rave about and only one or two that we've been back to a second time.

Don't get me wrong we have had some nice bits of meals, usually find the entrees and naan breads are good, but have never found anywhere where everything is spot or consistently good. There's always something missing, or something really 'not right'; usually due to the addition of some unexpected random ingredient (such as brussell sprouts ) to spoil the meal for me.

I have tried really hard not to compare and will deliberately go out of my way sometimes to try something new and to avoid things that we typically would have enjoyed in the UK. I find the quality of meat is the biggest issue for me and now mostly go for veggie options. I haven't found one yet that specifies off the bone or chicken breast meat. I admit to being very fussy about meat and don't like any meat that requires serious amounts of chewing, random bits of bones, grissle nor brown chicken meat; so that immediately puts most places to the test for me.

I have got used to the onion Bhaji being more like onion rings and now quite like them 'deconstructed' like that, but asking if you want your Korma or Vindaloo, hot, medium or mild still takes some getting over.

whitesand

On the the reasons why you found the curries not so great could be because the herbs and spices are not so wonderful here. I'm not a great curry fan myself but make it occasonally because I know others enjoy it. However, when I was shopping for some fresh spices I was disappointed to see how expensive spices and herbs are here, and they are not always a fresh as they should be. You also don't get the range you do in other places. This amazed me because of the large numbers of migrants over here.

Stormer999

|I think a good curry dish has to be cooked fresh from scratch hence the price rises and people head for cheaper outlets that have giant pots of cooked chicken, beef, prawn etc together with other cooked pots of varying sauces to compliment. Mix to requirements and serve. The main ingredient is subsequently not actually cooked in the main spices.
So make your own and then blame the chef.......

Bo-Jangles

I think that most of the Indian restaurants over here are out of practice, they've simply forgotten how to make a curry, or they don't stock the ingredients to make anything other than the Kiwi staple of Butter Chicken and plain boiled rice. It must come as quite a shock to them to have to actually make something else from the menu.

* Butter Chicken = chicken with a tomato puree and cream sauce that may have briefly been shown a packet of spice

Bellasmum

Buy decent spices and make your own.

BEVS

I think , for some, that would kinda defeat the object of having a quality Indian curry cooked by those ( Indians) that really know how to, inside out and upside down.


Cooking it yourself is possible,of course ,but not the same idea as a takeaway or meal out made all the more enjoyable for not having to do the domestic cook thing.

lardyl

what and miss out on the ritual abuse of the staff after 12 pints of lager?
we Brits have our standards you know - particularly when we are abroad, what what......

crap coffee

I like Daawat. they are great.

had some Tikka Masala last week. I took my big white bowl to take away - then they gave me almost double the amount... lasted for 3 days...

never had curry in auckland. so really don't know where to go,,,?

had plenty of Thai in auckland, and found they all rubbish. never again.

aucklanders don't know how to cook. their standard of (asian) cooking - pretty LOW (to me). IMO.

BEVS

Friend of ours once fell asleep in his plate of Tikka Masala.

Bo-Jangles

Indeed! There's lots elements I can make myself to a certain level of satisfaction, but we oddly don't seem to have a tandoor in our kitchen and I am neither willing or able to start from scratch on the whole gut-busting shebang from start to finish.

I would like onion bhajis, samosas, selection of curries, bombay potatoes, mushroom bhaji, pilau rice, naan bread, stuffed paratha and a couple of Cobras please. If I had to make them myself they certainly would not be ready all on the same day.

Besides which, I would need to do the stiff white tablecloth, napkins on the lap, flock wallpaper, sitar muzak and steaming hot towels for that truly authentic experience.

Addictedtosushi

Been here nearly 8 years now and have tried loads of Indian restaurants and I am sorry but they are all **it!!

For starters they give you all the crap bits of chicken not the chicken breasts that you get in the UK.And the sauces are vile they do not taste fresh like the ingredients in the UK with lots of fresh coriander in they are just loaded with salt.

When I used to order a indian takeaway and I used to ask if the chicken was chicken breast they used to look at me as though I was mad.

I know this is has got nothing to do with the topic of conversation but the fish and chips are crap as well and the chinese!!!I have never had so many bad take aways as I have in NZ they are really bad yet the kiwis rave about them and when you say they are crap they take it personal!!!!

One more week in NZ and yeah back to civilisation:BBC RADIO,GOOD NEWSPAPERS,GOOD SHOPPING,PROPERLY BUILT HOUSES,GOOD INDIANS,GOOD FISH&CHIPS,GOOD CHINESE,FAST INTERNET and the list goes on and on...........................................

Addictedtosushi

If anybody wants a good chicken Tikka masala recipe by Gordon Ramsey just let me know and I will post it!!