AM Kitchen, Leeds City Centre (May 2015)

For the month of May, debut host Tony Tanner decided the club should return to the bright lights ("and your") city lights ("all right!") of Leeds centre, with Lower Briggate's AM Kitchen on the menu. After a brief stint as the taxi drivers co-pilot, helping him to the unusual destination of the city centre, and then witnessing a man urinating at a pelican crossing (when you've got to go, you've got to go), we were more than ready for a pint!

Meeting took place in Whitelocks, the oldest public house in Leeds, dating all the way back to 1715. Up a small alley just off Briggate, Whitelocks still manages to have outside seating, where we grabbed a pew and enjoyed the fresh-ish air. And it was a nice surprise when Dave 'The Rave' Tanner, brother of this evenings host, strutted in like John Travolta, minus the paint can, for a one night only guest appearance. Due to multiple celebrations for some club members, the night kicked off with 30 minutes of handshakes - congratulations again to Listep for his wife having a naan in the clay oven, and to Gled on his engagement. I couldn’t think of any curry metaphor here other than ring of fire, which felt inappropriate.

Known for its wide range of ales, it seemed fruitless to move on without sampling as much as we could over a few rounds - although the Dogfish Head DNA ale was that bad, the barrel probably hasn’t needed changing since 1716. The Saltaire Brewery Raspberry Blonde was much more palatable, and it was enjoyed as we reminisced about the popular cult TV show Eurotrash. The oddball antics of Antoine de Caunes and Jean-Paul Gaultier were fondly remembered, but Matty's knowledge was alarmingly superior, even revealing the names of their forgotten giraffe characters Pee-Pee and Po-Po #mispentyouth.

Once Gledhill had told his heroic tale of his proposal on top of Yorkshire's Pen-y-ghent peak, negotiating high speed winds and extreme weather he likened to The Day After Tomorrow (not really Gled, it is June after all), it was time to move on to Tapped. A newish bar nestled on the corner of the Trinity complex, thankfully Tapped isn't named after any mentalist patrons, but more for the exposed look of the brass, casks and kegs on display. A hint of a 'sickie' smell at the bar wasn't the best first impression, but once we settled at the window seats we enjoyed a fine brew of Marble Pale - lovely. Unfortunately, not everyone was a happy man as they didn’t serve Matty's beloved Guinness and he went to the exit exclaiming "There's nothing in here for me". Managing to talk him into a quick cider, time had moved swiftly and once Temple had sneezed like a rabid horse with hay fever, we headed off to meet our booking at AM Kitchen.

AM Kitchen, Lower Briggate, Leeds City Centre.

The restaurant wasn't very busy, which gave us the opportunity to admire the lovely, grand décor, successfully capturing elements of the old Dyson's Clockwork Building. Instant pickle trays and poppadoms were brought by the smartly attired waiters and although the pickle trays were shallow, one between two meant there was enough to go around. Although in his 9th club, Tony didn’t realise the host paid for everyone's drinks in the restaurant - quite where he thought his drinks had come from over the past 9 months, we do not know - classic TTT! The drinks arrived and signs were showing that Listep was enjoying a drink on his penultimate club, revealing the emotional end to Game Of Thrones Season 5, without a spoiler alert for those who had already informed him they were yet to watch it. Don’t worry

readers, there are no spoilers here. AM Special Mix Grills were ordered for starters - although I have in my notes that guest Dave The Rave ordered the lasagne and chips starter but I'm chalking this up to predictive text gibberish in my note taking. Anyway, mains were ordered which included some 'off the menu' ordering by Matty and Temple, which forced a U-turn from Scott to join in on the Special Karahi order. The staff were more than happy to oblige with this, which was good of them. Some of the regular mains ordered included Chicken Balti, Chicken & Keema Karahi, Chicken Saag, Prawn Balti and a Chicken Makhani. It was a great touch to be asked with each dish for our heat preference (mild, medium, hot), showing that the kitchen would prepare food tailored to the individual customer - even Dave's lasagne. The starters arrive, and they were good - tasty and probably just enough of a portion to keep us on for the main event. And while waiting for said mains, another nostalgic debate was had on which comedy duo's various shows were better - Harry Enfield & Paul Whitehouse vs. Vic Reeves & Bob Mortimer. An epic tag team bout, much like The Legion Of Doom going up against The Bushwhackers, and I think it's fair to say one that was too close to call. Either way, there was no debate once the mains had arrived, with a resounding unanimous decision  - this was a delicious curry. Beautifully presented, each dish was gorgeous to taste and with a beautiful consistency of meat and sauce. Plenty of 'best curry of the season' was heard amongst members and it's hard to disagree with food this good. The AM Kitchen is up there with the best we've ever had - certainly at the top of the tree for this season anyway. It was difficult not to 'bag it up' (no diggity) just to savour the taste for the following day, but as the empty plates and bowls were taken away - TTT's jacket was on and he was out the door, "I'm off to Call Lane lads". Aghast at the swift exit, our jeers stopped him enough to let us know the bill had been paid - thankfully. Coming in at £225, it's more than the average but well worth it for the quality of food and service, as the waiters too were always attentive and on hand, yet not noticeable when not required.

The restaurant may have been empty when we left, and other rival restaurants may well have been busier - but certainly not with more satisfied diners than the Curry Club members. On the gas factor front - I'm taking the approach of no news is good news and so a tip of the cap from the Curry Club to AM Kitchen is well deserved, proof that you get what you pay for. AM Kitchen - take a bow.

Until next time for this season's finale, hopefully not as dramatic as Game Of Thrones…..steady Listep!

Cheers

Danny