Will writes...

Ah the much maligned Paradise.  Loved by some, viewed suspiciously, even despised by others.  Mother looked down her nose at me when I let slip I'd lunched there…in glorious isolation yes and not once but twice!!  ‘Oh mother’ I pleaded, ‘The Paradise is no opium den’, though the peace and calm that descends when inside the PLACE, stepping in from busy, dizzy Lavant Street may feel poppy induced.  

SERVICE sooths, PRICES don't quicken the pulse.  Waiters melt out of the walls, take your order, melt away again into the carpet.  The kitchen cooks meat tenderly and is capable of a classic curry house Rogan Gosht garnished with onion tarka… alas they also turn out a classic curry house Bindi bhaji, delicate ladies fingers battered and sticky, squeezed in the greasy hinges of a car door.  Having sampled this dish on my first visit, jeopardising my inheritance in the process, I smiled a wryly when it arrived as a complimentary side dish last Wednesday evening.  Meanwhile, the vegetable ordered, Aloo Niramish, finely sliced potato with bay leaf tasted entirely of ground coriander.  Ha Ha!  I could laugh, a starter of Chana Puree had been fine and as always the chicken tikka in my Podina Murgh was juicy, just as well as I'd no extra for liquid refreshment.

In SUMMARY eat the meat, don't go for the greens, visit the restaurant Wednesday too. With itinerant curry fans attracted to the Spice Lounge banquet night, the guarantee of a quiet night out (they do exist you see) awaits.  Regulars all seem to prefer a quiet night in with take-away, avoiding complimentary vegetables I presume.

(November 2006)