Leeds Cultural Curry Festival 2013

Lovely weather brought the crowds

Another Curry Festival!  This time in Leeds, and titled Leeds Cultural Curry Festival.  It catered for curry from around the world and included a few Thai outlets too.  Certainly varied.  Big too!  A lovely sunny day brought out the crowds and Millennium Square was stuffed.  Along with all the stalls, a stage provided cooking demo's and other entertainment such as music and dancing.  A small fair was present for the kiddies too.  A good family day out.

Bundobust Pav Bhaji

Although my best intentions were to sample some new and interesting food, the strong garlic whiff from Bundobusts Pav Bhaji pop up stall was overwhelming, and first port of call was here.  Although only a week previous I'd sampled this dish, it is so good I couldn't resist.  Bundobust is creating quite a stir about these parts - and definitely stood out from the crowd here at this festival.  I pressed again regarding any info on a venue yet but, understandably, they didn't want to give too much away.

Bundobust Pav Bhaji

Fish Pakora on Naan

Many of the other stalls were basically serving curry/kebabs on a naan - and this is what Lynda opted for.  Fish Pakora on a naan with salad.  Lynda is well through a pregnancy at the moment, so fancied something mild and not too demading. Her choice fitted the bill.  The fish was mildly battered and the salad and dressing were refreshing.  The naan was fresh, fluffy and warm. It was noted that many of the outlets had portable tandor ovens and were cooking naans fresh.  Very impressive.

Loads of curry everywhere you looked!

Later in the afternoon, once our initial meals had settled, we decided to share a second curry!  We liked the look of this stall (here on the right) and went for the dish simply entitled Meat Masala - on a naan of course.  It was ok - middle of the road and nothing special.  The stall certainly looked the part with the large hot plates all piled high with curry, but seemingly catering for a mass market - and who can blame them.  The Meat Masala didn't set my taste buts alight, and if I had had room for a third curry of the day would have gone elsewhere.

The Leeds Cultural Curry Festival 2013 offered a great family day out.  My only gripe is the same as with the Bradford Festival a few weeks ago, and that is that most of the meals were in the £5-£7 bracket, and offered a substantial meal.  Good value, but one is enough!  I'd personally like to trawl a good few stalls sampling bits and bobs at a reduced price en route.  Also, rather than everyone just serving curry/kebab on a naan, perhaps some more of this would be good?