Regal Cafe - 26/03/2011

Attendees: Gemma, Jenny, Lilly, Dan, Lynda, Izzy and me

Just a quickie this month – If I don’t write something soon I’ll forget what happened??

Not that anything ‘happened’ so don’t get too excited.

Our trip to Regal Café occurred without hitch I’m afraid. Nice setting though, with its open and airy café style seating arrangement – as it turned out there was plenty of room around the tables for the smaller ones in our group to have a good roam around.


I couldn’t really fault my experience, no booze at all either (note for future??) – Which usually, perhaps sometimes falsely, improves curry eating experiences!! Also, I thought the waiter was a little fussy because I ordered supposed ‘breakfast’ dishes – it was mid afternoon – and he seemed to take great pleasure in pointing this fact out??? No mention on the menu mind? I wondered if he’d heard of ‘All Day Breakfast’?


My first (breakfast??) dish was Dahi Bhalay (Dahi Vada), apparently a very popular Lahore street food dish, and comprised a bowl containing a large soya dumpling covered in a yogurt curry sauce – very different to anything this BCC member has ever had before – very yogurty with only a hint of curry spice?? It did look like it should be eaten at breakfast it has to be said. It must be popular though because tubs of the stuff were available to purchase in the attached deli/shop – more of which later.


For main I chose the Niharee, from the Regal Special, which was basically a lamb shank in a very thin curry sauce. Pretty authentic dish by all accounts, and quite different to the normal ‘British Curry’s’ we are used to I guess? The sauce was thin and quite mild tasting, but could be pepped up with the addition of fresh ginger, chilli and garam masala, which accompanied the main on a side plate. The meat was ace and just fell off the bone – the sauce was nothing special and a bit soupy – requiring a spoon to eat successfully.

The Cheese & Chicken Kebab and Korma seemed to go down well with the young ones, so Regal Café gets top marks in that department.


The adjoined deli/shop was probably my favorite aspect of the afternoon (I struggle to fully enjoy my curry eating experience without a couple of cold lagers) and had a massive array of sweets and savories on offer. A small box of sweeties was purchased and consumed over the following days – there where no complaints from Lynda, Izzy or myself regarding their quality.


So overall, Regal Café provided a generally pleasant experience, and was an enjoyable place to visit. I bit off the beaten track, so doesn’t spring immediately to mind when considering a venue for impromptu curry eating but worth a visit if nothing else I reckon?

John