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