Moghul, Horsforth (December 2014)

Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg etc etc. Yes, the festive edition of curry club arrived with a trip to Horsforth for the final club of 2014. Pre-curry drinks kicked off in the Town Street Tavern, unsurprisingly located on Town Street. A superb little 'boozer' specialising in ales, the drink of choice (except for Matty who would drink Guinness stood admiring the great Pyramids of Egypt) was the 2014 Champion Beer Of Britain - Timothy Taylor's Boltmaker. And a fine drop it was too. Breaking the trend and looking to demolish himself, Broad was on the big guns, sinking pints of Erdinger as the vice banter flowed like a river -  a nod to Scatman John must be had (RIP). With the night concluding at Moghul restaurant, the group began to remember our last venture there and the age old debate of which curry was hotter - the Handi or the Jaflong. Both camps remained divided but with the dishes in question just around the corner, a conclusion was on the horizon. Moving on, we hit the new 80's bar up the street, called….err, 80's bar?! Anyway, Matty was feeling the effects of the cheeky few consumed in the afternoon as he exclaimed his displeasure with the lack of people in the bar to its staff. And with a new bar came new beers, however a swift taste of the gash 'Yardbird' led to a swapsy to the tastier Noble. Even with an empty bar, the fine 80's music still managed to get one or two up to dance like nobody was watching. Moving on, we headed over the road to the trendy Sandbar - sporting some unique Gargoyle urinals. Over the final beers, TTT pretended to be a GP with his medical advice found on the back of a beermat, and we reminisced of Gledhill's after shower dressing habits - socks on first and parade around for a bit. Needing to eliminate that vision from our minds, it was time to head to the curry house.

Moghul, Horsforth.

After finding the correct entrance (it's not confusing at all, the beers had kicked in), we were welcomed with open arms into the small, but quaint restaurant that is Moghul. As it doesn’t hold a license to serve alcohol, some fine pre-club preparation was undertaken by club host Scott in bringing along a crate of Cobra to keep the masses happy. Something which eluded TTT as later in the evening he asked the waiter for another Cobra, much to his confusion. So it was straight into the menu, which presented some great options to choose from, and the poppadoms arrived swiftly  - accompanied by an unusual pickle tray, containing 'break from the norm' sauces, like lime pickle. The order was taken by pleasant staff, with the sundries again ordered using the patented TTT 'hand towel or bath towel' methodology. And with various versions of the infamous Handi and Jaflong ordered by most members, we'd discover which would take the 'curry heat' crown for sure. Other dishes included a Chicken Tikka balti and lamb and mushroom mixed curry. Waiting for our starters, it was clear another debate was to be had - who was the most whammed between Broady and Matty. With Matty slumped in his chair, slurring and needless volume with his words, to Broady's ridiculous presidential-esque speech requesting we take pictures of our poo for the blog gas factor (something which won't be happening dear readers!), it was declared both were worthy winners.

 

Ding Ding!

The starters arrived of three mixed platters absolutely stacked with food (more than enough for 9 diners) - including battered prawns, battered chicken and burger shaped sheesh kebabs. And tasty enough it was too, although somewhat let down by the fact the prawns still had the shells on - something which was cunningly disguised by the batter. It was then on to the title bout as the mains arrived - in the red corner was the Handi, and the blue corner - the Jaflong. As the immortal Apollo Creed once said - "Ding ding". And what a contest it was, with both dishes proving to be packing some serious spice - the Handi even raising a 'this Handi is hot as sh*t!' from TTT.

What was clear though, is that although both dishes were hot, they were very tasty indeed. The heat was probably more of a theme for the restaurant as a whole, as the Chicken Balti also had a kick to it - as did pretty much everyone else's, resulting in some Raita yoghurt sauce being ordered to cool things down a bit and Broady drinking water direct from the jug. For the first time in a while there was some mumblings of 'bagging up' (no diggity, no doubt), most likely due to the volume of starters, but this was soon squashed as dishes were fully consumed and enjoyed by all.

Coming in at a more than reasonable £153, it seemed like good value - although with one man down due to illness, and no alcohol charges, it was probably on par with the rest upon reflection. So if you like a reasonable priced, spicy but tasty curry then Moghul is your place.

The journey home is worthy of note, with a joint rendition of The Carpenters classic 'We've Only Just Begun' ensuring a jovial finish to the year. Although some questions were raised and remain unanswered - firstly, why does Magic 828, with today's technology, still sound like you're listening through a glass pressed against a wall? And secondly, I've no idea how this question came about, but is legendary TV presenter and all round tanned entertainer Des O'Connor dead or alive? Quite frankly, I'm happy this one was left unanswered as its comforting to know that he could well be both over or under ground - a quandary similar to Schrödinger's cat.

A tip of the cap to our southern colleague Wheeler on the safe arrival of his daughter, and I'll sign off by wishing all a very, very…..very merry Christmas.

Cheers

Danny

Nawaab, Leeds (November 2014)

Guess who's back…..back again….club is back….tell a friend. After what seemed to be an age since the last instalment of Curry Club (thanks to weddings and honeymoons), it was back for November's venture into Leeds city centre. With host, myself, fresh from stateside honeymooning (USA USA!) it seemed appropriate to continue the American theme, and so pre-curry drinks took place in Roxy Bar, just off Boar Lane, for some 'frat party' style beer pong. Beers in hand and customary red beer cups on the playing table, there was debate about the actual rules of what is essentially 'throwing a ping pong ball into a beer filled cup'. Rules googled, teams divided, we were ready to commence. It wasn't long before corruption reigned, as Temple and Broady blowed and batted balls away (wayyyyy), and Gledhill's slam dunk leaning technique raised eyebrows from the opposition. Needless to say, justice was served accordingly. Once the anarchy had settled and we accepted that beer pong is tougher than it should be, TTT found his range - dominating Listep who became more unruly with every losing swig. As the cups fell there were plenty of high fives and 'whoopin and a hollerin' to be enjoyed and the game came to a welcome close. Temple's moans of having to drink the losing pint fell on deaf ears.

Step aside Gump - we don't need no CGI.

Wishing to complete the full 'pong' games spectrum, it was on to play ping pong - some for the very first time in their life……which showed….no names mentioned……Scott! A loose round robin of doubles matches saw some epic ping-pong-play, with big shots, spins and slams a plenty. Differing levels of skill were on display but an 'on his toes' Broady showed movement reminiscent of Forrest Gump (I love you Jenny!) - although mainly when the ball wasn't in play. After dry humping Grimes against the wall after a victory - I sensed it was time to wrap up the ping pong, finish our drinks and head off to play curry pong.

Nawwab, Wellington Street, Leeds

Under new management and a recent refurbishment led to high expectations for Nawaab's, but upon entry, thoughts were drawn that  'refurbishment' was a bit of a stretch - perhaps 'had a lick of paint' on the poster wouldn’t quite pull them in. Still, it was never shabby in the first instance so the club wasn't too disappointed in that respect - but the lack of greeting as the club swaggered in was a minor negative footnote. Barman notified and drinks poured, we were then escorted to our table and things took a positive turn as the poppadoms and pickle trays appeared with turbo-timing. After a short perusal of the menu, the food was ordered with TTT asking the waiter if the naan's were 'hand towels or bath towels' - which raised chuckles from all but on reflection is a logical and useful metaphor when it comes to ordering sundries. The banter continued to flow as the pickle tray ran out and the poppadoms became a distant memory. Just as we began to wonder if the chef had left for the evening, our plates arrived in preparation for the mixed platter starters. Unfortunately, the plates remained unused for a further 10 minutes, prompting Listep to devour his garnish like an overly peckish gannet. 45 minutes from ordering and at last, the platters arrived and thankfully they were worth the wait, with plenty to go around and some impressively large prawns.

Another longish wait followed for the mains, which meant the club was somewhat underwhelmed with the service received, especially as some plates were more thrown down than placed. However, the chef clearly made up for the lack of speed with quality as once we were able to tuck in to our dishes, they were truly delicious. The time lapse had caused some memory loss in some, as Listep had to enjoy a very creamy dish instead of his own order, which was taken by another member. Fingers were pointed in Temple's direction but it soon became clear the culprit was TTT who folded under questioning on what his dish actually was - a slow and suspicious response of 'Errr, chicken nawaab?!' left no doubts. Nice try Tony. Still Listep had an empty bowl nonetheless and had the look of a cat that got the cream……y dish.

There was no mistaking Broady's order, with a super tri-meat-curry bonanza placed in front of a very happy man. And with memories of 'two mains' Broady still lingering from Reds, there was no doubt an empty tri-dish would be left at the end of play. Unfortunately, as a hunger-bitten man my concentration in note taking dipped enough to omit what mains were actually consumed - but since all members were more than satisfied with the quality of food, I'm sure all dishes ordered at Nawaab will be thoroughly enjoyed.

Coming in at a hefty £230, Nawaab's certainly isn't cheap - but perhaps you get what you pay for springs to mind in terms of quality of food. Although having to ask for your own mints only cements that they do need to tighten up the service belt a great deal to truly make it one of Leeds' best curry houses. Gas factor used the element of surprise for the group the next day, like a bad-gut ninja, as early positive reports were then slashed by some unpleasantness in the afternoon. All in all, a hugely entertaining evening with some lovely food but poor service.

See you in December for the festive club with all the trimmings.

Cheers

Danny

PS Check out the super slo-mo action from the Ping-Pong and mindless tomfoolery at the end of play