The lads need to help me here and confirm where we went and if we know the score :-)
May 10 - TBC
Apologies for not updating the blog for so long. Holiday's and then a family matter has lead to me losing the enthusiasm. However, I am trying to coax some of the members to provide updates. So keep watching as stories will get put on and the all important scoring will be resumed.
Apr 10 - Curry Garden, Rushden
This month the Curry Club decided to visit a local curry house that we haven't eaten in for some time. In fact the last time we ate here was pre-scoring and pre-blog! We recall that the speed of service was not great and so looked forward to see how things might have changed.
A 20 strong Mission Curry Club visited the restaurant with more names than I can remember or indeed even knew. The core of the club were present lead by Bill the organiser, Tony the treasurer and blogger, Pastor Ian, Alan, Colin M, Julian, Tom, Keith and a host of friends. When we arrived we were about the only people in, with perhaps one other table with a couple wondering what was going on. We sat on 4 different tables which was a first for the club and had many advantages. To start the staff did a bill per table, which made collecting money very easy, though we are not sure if Bill got his table correct.
We arrived at 7:30pm sharp and after taking our seats ordered the first drinks. It took a while to receive the drinks, but we all got served. At just around 8:00pm our food order was taken, which didn't bode well for speed of service. The first starters arrived around 8:30pm and as we were on separate tables it was clear that each table would receive their food at different times. Some had opted for a house special which was outside of the great deal Bill had secured for us (£10 a head for starter, main, side and rice/naan) and decided not to have a starter for fear of being too full or wasting their main course (this was to prove to be a mistake).
So some discussion; early topic was the on / off train strike and as we had one amongst us who used to work in the industry, we had some sensible conversation and it did not end up with who could run the best service using a Hornby layout. Pastor Ian told us about his beloved Morris Marina Coupe he had some time back. This got us started on driving and Tony offered that the age should be raised to 21 like in the USA. This brought some debate from those that had been driving since 17 and never caused any problems etc. We then got onto the subject of marriage and how it appears to be too easy now to swap around once it gets a bit tough.
Conversation continued and at this point I must mention Nathan. This was a sad Curry Club for Nathan and for the rest of us as Nathan is moving on. He is off up north to start a new job and is moving his young family some way away. We will miss Nathan not for his great conversation or his wit or his friendliness or his kindness, all of which are true. We will miss Nathan because though he is about 7 feet 2 inches tall and weighs around 7 stone 4 lbs, he can in fact eat for Britain. So he is our benchmark when testing the quantity of food. If Nathan says he is full, then you can bet that everyone will be scoring a 5 for quantity. Nathan, we wish you all the very best and hope that the job works out. You will of course be welcome at any time to the curry club should be around this way. Can I just ask that before you leave, you return your curry club key fob ... no, just kidding, you are now a lifetime member.
So, where were we with the food, oh yes, some of the tables had eaten their main course but the one containing the organiser still hadn't been served. One diner sent his rice back because it was cold and others did comment that their food was only luke warm. I should note that Kumar, the manager should have been on his day off, but came in we believe because the curry club was in. Not sure whether he was overseeing the service or not or dealing with take-aways. Conversation continued with someone saying they had a friend who went out with Hilary. Now we reckon this must have been when Hilary was about 10, because we know that she met Bill when she was 14 and they got married and have been ever since. Bill's ears pricked up when he heard his wife's name being mentioned. Not sure he got the story or probed deeper into who it was etc. Now chances are he never will as I'm not even sure he has ever read this blog!!!!
Oh, nearly forgot, the final score was 19.6, which is mid table in our league. Of course the opinions expressed here are entirely our own and represent our view on the night. You may have a completely different experience. The Mission Curry Club have been treated to some excellent eating experiences over time and so local restaurants have to really go some to get great scores. We will no doubt return at some point to the Curry Garden, but alas the speed of service has to be much better.
Until next time, don't lets your kebabs get cold.
Feb 10 - Red Hot World Buffet, Northampton
So here we go, Feb's curry club. Meeting at the church were Paul, Tom, Tom's GD (Alan), Bill, Tony, Alan B, Colin M, Big Col, Phil (welcome mate), Prof and Keith. A disappointing turn out as we had been invited to a curry night, but that's just the way it goes with busy people, families, meetings and operations.
We left the church car park and made our way over to the Red Hot in Northampton, over by the six fields stadium. Never have been sure what goes on in that big stadium. Maybe a large car boot sale. I managed to come off one of the roundabouts on the wrong turn, so had to make a swift dash to the M1 and back! Eventually we all met up and went in.
We were shown to our table and initial thoughts were here we go the seats look nice all pushed together but how do you actually get in. However, the staff were soon on hand and provided another table enabling us to spread out. So once seated we considered drinks and for some reason going to the bar and ordering drinks was not an option as it has been on other visits. The waiter took our drinks orders and we paid each bill as it came. This was fine as it makes the end bill easier for us to work out. So then, what next? We weren't too sure what the plan was so Tony grabbed a waiter and said "We are from the curry club what is the process?". We noticed that this evening was the same as every other evening in that it had various people in and the food on offer appeared to be the same as usual, so what was going to be different. The waiter told us that we could help ourselves to starters and the usual Indian foods. However, he said that other Indian specific dishes were going to be brought just to our table.
So we got up and headed for the starters. It should be pointed out that our back row of people were up against the wall and this makes getting in and out difficult. Basically everyone has to get up at the same time. So once re-seated conversations began.
There was a bit of discussion about Big Col's Internet Access and how he has changed providers (not a good idea, in my experience) and was awaiting a wireless router. When quickly changed the subject and discussed the latest films. Several of us have been to see Avatar (in 3D of course) and agreed it was a great film, even if it was just Dances with Wolves in space. Bill said he'd seen Sherlock Holmes and that was also great. There was discussion about the Gadget Show and photography. Big Col is looking to buy a new camera, even though he hasn't mastered his old one yet. Bill said he was a technophobe. Now I thought that was someone who feared technology, but who am I to disagree.
During conversation dishes began to appear on our table. First some rather fetching meat balls appeared, at this point we remembered one of our missing members who couldn't be with us due to an operation. Then some sausages, that were spicy with a strong lemon taste. Both were very fragrant dishes. Then some lamb and chicken arrived. We continued conversation and someone noticed that Bill was taking small portions. Apparently he is on the diet again as all the good work he did last time (and money in sponsorship he took off us) was lost as he has put back on the weight he lost. Someone said they wanted their money back, but Bill said he would be around soon asking for more! There was a discussion about Sat Navs and comedy voices. Someone said that he would dread having his wife's voice telling him to turn left. Colin M commented that they have these devices and they are called Sat Nag's.
More food continued to pour onto the table, with a vegetable dish. One of the highlights was a fish curry that the Prof, who is a regular visitor to India, said was about as authentic you can get outside of India. Well done chef Swapnil!! SO we ended the meal and was brought a nice shooter which most people downed in one. Couldn't tell you what it was, just that it was in 3 sections.
... and so to the all important scores ... Ambiance = 4.0, Quality = 4.3, Quantity = 5, Staff = 4.4, Price = 4.9, giving a total of ............. 22.60!!!! At last someone has challenged the Cafe Bangla. The Red Hot had posted the third best score of all time. So where did they lose points? Ambiance lost some because of a few items, the backs against the wall seating, the level of general noise in the restaurant was high (yes it is a big place with lots of people), there was also a gas heater stationed very close to some who did move it away a bit but still felt the heat (or was it the curry). Quality in general was good, the dishes brought to the table were excellent. The main dishes from the normal selection are let down a bit by mass production, but nevertheless still good. One numpty from our membership gave 4 for price, which shows they don't eat out much, never did find out who. But overall an excellent score. As usual the opinions expressed here are our personal opinions on the night, you may have a different experience.
The question remains now in terms of where do Red Hot see this going? They want to start up a curry club. Are they going to advertise a special deal where you get the usual food plus some extras to your table? What would the price be as, while I won't disclose the price we paid, it was very good. In fact for the benefit of one missing member it was a snip of a price. How are they going to advertise it? How are they going to take it forward? One thing is for sure, the Mission Curry Club (MCC) were reduced in numbers this month and I know those that were missing would have enjoyed the night. So we would support a return visit to give Red Hot a chance to topple the Cafe Bangla.
Until next time, ta ta masala.
Jan 10 - Cafe Bangla, Rushden
Hey, here we the night before the next curry club and I'm making a post. Not only am I on time this month, but we usually don't have a Jan meet. The story is that we have been contacted by a reasonably local establishment and invited to come along for a special curry evening. I won't say who now as we will wait until next month. We had considered going this month, but time was short to get people together. So watch out for next months post. Anyway, having thought a few of us might be out this month we decided to go local to .. yes the Cafe Bangla. There is a bit of snow around and so we thought keep it to walking distance. Funny, I spoke to a curry club member this week on the phone who said it was snowing heavily and that he had some on the ground. I opened my door and saw a clear sky and not a flake around. Weird thing is this guy was about 4 miles as the bird flies from me. Talk about localised weather.
So Tony, Alan, Keith, Colin M, Paul, Tom and Tom's Grandad, Julian, Nathan, Lindsey, Nathan, Steve & Steve, Keith's mate, Bill and someone else who's name I didn't get made their way down town in the ice and remains of snow.
We were seated quickly and ordered the usual first round of drinks. Cafe B is consistently a good scorer and they are striving to better the score every time we meet. One issue for us is that these guys are local and give a great service so we tend to go back often.
So early discussion included Baxters soup and smoked beachwood bacon. Now I'm not sure how much beer had been drunk at this point, but I just don't know what this was all about. While we were choosing our meals there was loads of discussion about side dishes and what they contain. We got in and sat down at 7:15 and were asked for our order at 7:45, which is not great. Most of these places assume you will have 47 popodums and various chutneys followed by 3 pints. As we don't tend to have the pre-starters, mainly due to cost, it does mean we feel that we are waiting a bit longer than we should. The starters came at 8:10, so that does mean we waited nearly an hour and there were some hungary men.
We had the usual cars conversations and someone raised the issue of why people have to drive in the middle lane of the motorway when the inside lane is clear. I think it is just a lack of confidence and they feel safer in the middle of the road rather then near that dangerous hard shoulder. Someone disagreed with me and said they just shouldn't have been given a driving licence. I guess there is one school of thought that if they are doing 70mph, then no one should catch them up anyway ...
I wonder if we should have lanes on the pavement? Have you noticed how some people wander along and you are stuck behind them needing to get past. If we had lanes we could have the slow walkers in the inside lane and the faster ones on the outside lane. You'd even have an overtaking lane. Though I wonder how long it would be before those people that hog the middle lane on the road start walking along the fast lane! As I recall some swimming pools have lanes for fast and slow swimmers. I might try swimming slowly up the fast lane next time :-)
Some other conversations were Bill trying to find a piano player with no teeth, one of our members admitted to playing Father Christmas, eating Indian food in India, Chilli Chocolates, having a fat boys at the Red Lion pub in Weldon (maybe we should go there) and at one point far too much church talk. Pastor Ian wasn't there so we missed him bringing real world issues to the table like which is best, the Nintendo Wii or Playstation 3?
Anyway main course arrived and were great as usual and so when we had finished we did the scoring. I'll start with Ambience for a change, that got 4.1, Quality 4.7, Quantity 4.7, Price 4.7 ... bit of a theme here and finally staff 4.2. I think staff might have got more if we had scored later as the boss man came in after we had scored and we had loads of banter with him. Great guy down there. Of course we were offered the usual night cap of any drink. So the final score was 22.4, the 3rd highest ever and giving Bangla Cafe the top 4 places in our restaurant league.
Of course as usual the opinions expressed here are entirely personal and represent our visit on the night. Next month, we are going to the Red Hot in Northampton (no this is not a strange night club around the back streets), it is the world buffet bar. I have a feeling the guys there might just break up the Bangla's dominance. We've been invited specifically as they want to start a curry club. I no I've given the name away ....
Until the next post, kit fit and don't let your aloo saag.
Dec 09 - Eastern Spice, Irthingborough
So the guys decided to visit the revamped Eastern Spice this month. The establishment has been heavily advertised in the local paper and so it was only right to see if it could challenge the current top place to eat curry.
We met at the church car park as usual and the convey made their way over to Irthlingborough, that place made famous by the local football team, Rushden United. Oh, I'm in trouble now. You see once upon a time Rushden was a flourishing small town and had its own footy team called Rushden Town, now it's just a growing expanse of housing and reducing infrastructure to support it (listen up local council, time to bring some shops and entertainment to the town - cinema, bowling etc). Then there was Irthlingborough who also had a footy team called Irthlingborough Diamonds. Someone made the decision to bring the two together. Formally the team is called Rushden and Diamonds, but locals depending on where you sit and outsiders call it "The Rushden", Rushden Town, Rushden Football Club, Irthlingborough Wheelers and all sorts of things. If you go, they also have a special name for the Referee. I never could understand how some normal human beings go to a football match and turn into a ranting raving lunatic. Don't get me wrong I love armchair football, but it's just a game. Anyway where was I, oh yes, so a load of us (around 18) descended on the Eastern Spice. The deal was a full meal at a set price.
We sat down, ordered so drinks and got talking. Discussion included jobs and why we can't work 4 days a week and have 3 days off. Or even better, like Pastor Ian, just work 1 day a week - now I'm really in trouble from the man that probably works 7 days a week! We also discussed the Wii and in particular the Wii Fit. It seems that several of the members have one and there maybe a challenge in the new year.
The starters arrived after a while, a bit delayed but the restaurant was filling up I guess. Nathan necked a pile of Pickled Lime and then confessed that he thought it was Cucumber. Just shows it never touched his tongue, let alone the sides of his mouth.
The having finished the starter and drank more pop, waited, and waited, and waited. During which time Tony decided to referee and game of spoons. Now I have to try and describe this to you. Picture the scene, Tony is sat between Nathan and Luke (Luke is Tony's 10 year old son). Nathan starts by holding a spoon in his mouth. Luke bends forward and Nathan hits Luke on the head with the spoon. Try this, you will find that you get no power from just a flick of the neck (nodding as it were). Then it is Luke's turn and with Nathan now bent down, Luke inflicts a powerful whack on the head. Sitting opposite is the audience including Alan and Simon. Nathan protests at Luke's obvious technique and powerful nodding ability. They each had another 2 goes until Nathan decided to surrender with a sore head.
Now, the audience could see what Nathan could not ... every time he bent down for Luke to hit him with the spoon, Tony sitting in between using perfect time whacked Nathan on the head with a spoon in his hand! We did tell Nathan the secret and he was most put out and attempted to attack Tony with various items left on the table.
Anyway, eventually the main course arrived. Everything was complete and nothing missing. So to the scoring .. Ambiance got 4.2, Quantity got 4.5, Quality a useful 4.4 and price 4.5. All set for a reasonable score, until the staff score came in, which includes speed of service. Here it went a bit wrong as only 3.6 was awarded. Total score 21.2, which was let down by keeping the guys waiting. It was over an hour between courses, which is not good. Anyway, as usual the views and opinions expressed here are entirely our own and represent the experience we had on the night.
We paid up and left for home having had good quality food, but just taking a little too long to arrive. Until next time ...
Nov 09 - Fordham Arms, Sharnbrook
A visit out to Sharnbrook for this months Curry Club. Tony S, Pete, Nathan, Julian, Pastor Ian, Prof, Bill, Alan B, Tony R, Swiss Pete, Tom, Keith, Paul and Ian R made the short trip over to this lovely pub. This was a return visit to an establishment that served us well last time. The chef prides himself on his curries.
We were seated quickly following the ordering of drinks. Early discussion was centred around overalls and wearing nothing underneath them. No I don't understand why either? Maybe we were having a YMCA moment. Oh I remember, it started with talk about work clothes and whether you had to wear a suit. Conversation continued with what you can't feed dogs. Everyone agreed about chocolate, but then someone said you can't give them onions. That's bad news as my dog loves to finish off the left over curry.
When then had a session talking about renaming football grounds which was topically. Then for some reason there was discussion about tigerloo and shooting star. I thought they were characters from a Disney film, but apparently they are motorbikes. After a motorbikes we moved on to cars and tried to think of cars that had bench seats. We came up with the Zepher 6 and a Worsley.
So, let's get onto the food. First we had some poppadoms with the usually chutneys. However, we were treated to the chefs special home made chutney (lime as I recall). Then out come the food and what a banquet of curries, rice, naans and side dishes. Let me just leave the scores to speak for themselves.
Quantity got 4.8, should have been 5 but a couple of guys clearly need enough for a couple of elephants. Quality was 4.4 which is excellent for a pub. Price, 4.7 good scoring. Staff got 4.5, on the low side if you ask me as we always get a warm welcome. Ambiance was a 4.5 also. So total score of 22.90, making it the top scoring pub. Well done chef!!!!
As usually these notes and our opinion is purely personally and represents our view on the night. We would certainly recommend the curry night here to any curry lovers out there.
Until next time, all the best.
Oct 09 - Cafe Bangla
A small contingent from the curry club visited our old favorite to see if they could top their previous scores. There is some confusion over who actually came and I put this down to our usual organiser being absent attending to a family matter.
As usual we were seated quickly and began ordering drinks. Early discussion was about Nathan's pending baby. It centred around photographing the birth and moved onto video. We weren't too sure about that and what rating it my get. There was soon discussion about you tube and loading photos on the web.
Now for some reason I have rent boy written down in my notes. Given all that has happened over the last couple of months and I am writing this blog nearly 3 months after the event, I've no idea why I was referred to as a rent boy. It was something to do with selling myself and my new job. I'm sure someone will tell me.
Anyway soon the food arrived and it was up to scratch as usual. Quality got 4.71, quantity 4.57, price 4.1, Ambiance 4.5 and finally staff 4.5 giving a total of 22.38. Not beating their other top scores but still a great score and something we have come to expect now.
As usual, the opinion expressed here is entirely our own and represents what we found on the night.
Until next time ...
Sep 09 - Thai Inn, Rushden
First of all, to all our regular readers, a big apology for not getting this on sooner, how does time slip by so quickly? Anyway, on to the evening. Ian, Colin S, Paul, Brian, Alan B, Pastor Ian, Swiss Pete, Tom were joined by Big Steve for his first curry club. This week we went, with a certain amount of trepidation to the Thai Inn in Rushden. As you will see from our blog history the first time we went to the Thai inn we were blown away and raved about it, so much so that we chose it for our Christmas meal which traditionally is a revisit to our favourite establishment of the year. This was a great disappointment as the regular chef was absent and our experience was not as favourable (read the blog for more details) So the question was, how was it going to be this time? We were having the deal where you pay a flat price (£11.95) and you can order anything off the menu as many times as you like, drinks extra. SO on arrival the first orders for starters were placed and we were soon into the usual discussions on cars and hideous music choices. The layout of the Thai inn was such that we were not all able to sit on the same table, a select group of Paul, Brian, Bill and Colin were at their own. Soon the food arrived and I have to say that it was brilliant. We had a mixed starter which was closely followed by a host of main courses, and they kept coming for as long as we wanted and could eat. It was about this time that it was noted that the “select” table appeared to have installed a conveyor belt which kept bringing food to the table, Bill and Colin both blamed Paul but I have my suspicions! The staff were very helpful and cheerful, nothing was too much trouble and they took time to explain anything on the menu that we wanted clarification on.
So now to the scores, The total was 22.0, which is a great score for a restaurant. This was made up of 4.6 for Quality, 4.7 for quantity (how anyone can score less than 5 for quantity when you get to choose how much you eat is beyond me, but someone did!) 4.1 for Ambience, 4.0 for price and 4.6 for staff. All very good scores. Until next time.Aug 09 - Balti Lounge, Kettering
First it's been a while since the last blog, I've had personal and family issues taking up my time. However, we are back and time to review my notes from our visit to the Balti Lounge in Kettering. The role call included the Prof Brian, Alan B, Pastor Ian, Peter, Dan, Swiss Pete, Mark, Tom, Bill. Keith, Ken, Colin, Alan P and Tony.
Having made our way upstairs, we ordered drinks and found our table. It was noted that there was a chair lift for the stairs and people were under orders to keep the alcohol intake in check such that no one tried to see how many people we could sit in the seat and go up and down the lift. Of course we are all responsible men and keep our drinking in check. Anyway, first amusing moment was when we sat down. It was noticed by Dan that his dad's (Pastor Ian) feet didn't touch the floor. Those that realised did say that maybe the chairs are slightly taller than usual. Thanks for that one Dan, I'm sure Dad will return the observation at some point. Early discussion was about Face Space or My Bebo, or whatever it is called. Apparently it got quite confusing when Dan (yes that man again) changed his profile and at one point Mum and Dad were writing on behalf of him. This just shows how careful you have to be with social network tools - no one has realised that I am in fact a woman writing these blogs!
This month there were various words of wisdom and advice. In no particular order, Keith said "Gillette (it should be noted that other manufactures also make razors) is run by women, because woman want men to look like them". Pastor Ian said, "6 months after the first spray of deodorant, boys start to look at themselves". "More people are kicked to death by a donkey than die in an air crash", nope can't remember who said that. "Thicksotropic Liquid", no that's not a posh name for a Lassi. Must have been the Prof to throw that one in.
Anyway, while all this intellectual and stimulating conversation was going on, someone said, where are the starters? It was noted that they were a little slow coming. Then it would have been rude for someone not to bring to the attention the really bad music that was coming from somewhere. Not that it really needed bring to any ones attention. It's hard to describe really, it was like there was someone around the corner tuning up an instrument really badly. It was so bad that it was actually amusing, a bit like some of the "hopefuls" that go on Britain's got the X Factor. So at some point we ate the starters and the main course.
There was a strange incident with Bill whole paying for a drink - he wasn't charge enough and the waiter came back and asked for more money (the princely sum of 0.95p), then didn't have change of a pound. All a bit silly when there was a large group of people spending a lot of money.
Whilst all sitting around enjoying each others company, we did discuss at one point that old fashioned practice of families sitting down together to eat their meals. Sadly many people are eating at different times, or in front of the telly and the opportunity for quality time as a family hearing what each others day has been like is disappearing from many "modern" families.
So, to the scoring ... Not good I'm afraid with people scoring quite differently on some aspects depending on what they had. Quantity received 3.71, Quality 3.57, Price 3.42. The big failure was staff getting only 2 (Service was very slow) and ambiance only 2.14, change the music guys. The total was 14.84, which is the lowest score ever given. While the score wasn't good, it has to be said that we had a good time due to the company and the music was so bad it made us smile. It should be noted that as usual the views expressed here are entirely our own opinion and represent what we experienced on the night.
Next month, a return to somewhere that has had its very highs and lows, with a Bill promise that it will be back on a high. Bye for now ...
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