Main Difference Between British & Australian Curry Houses?

[Caedryn]

Just curious to know what the differences in the 2 styles of cooking are?

[chukitinabukit]

Main difference that I have spotted is, when you walk into a BIR is ,they say "Kun ah help you czar", but in Aus they say "gudd dayyer mate".

Hope that helps !

Chukit

[beachbum]

The curries are somewhat different as the base gravies / pastes are prepared quite differently.

Most Australian curry establishments label themselves as "North Indian" as opposed to Bangladeshi. Our local owner is a Sikh in all his magnificence.

Menu names are similar in the mainstream curry restaurants / takeaways: Madras, Bhuna, Korma, Jalfrezi etc etc. but the interpretations are different.

I haven't seen any flock wallpaper yet.

Kingfisher is on offer, not brewed in India (I think yours is Shepherd Neame, ours is brewed in Melbourne somewhere).

Another difference is that in Australia nearly every larger shopping Mall with a food court has an indian outlet with the curries cooked in bulk and served out of bain maries, as opposed to individual preparation in the ally pan. This extends to the high street restaurants that often have a couple of bain marie nights all you can eat for thirty bucks sort of deal. I don't know if this is done in Britain nowadays.

Accompaniments such as Naan, raita etc are pretty much identical.

[chukitinabukit]

Interesting that Indians are the dominating race among the restaurants.

Chukit

[beachbum]

Thai was really growing till about five years ago, now they seem to have settled down to some sort of equilibrium - much like the old standard Chinese Restaurants. Newest "explosion" of Asian food shops seems to be Indian, and Noodle Houses with those amazing jet fighter powered woks, where there are photos of the forty or fifty offerings and you just point or say "Number 35" like the Chinese places in the UK about 50 years ago: "Number 22 with chips please"

[chukitinabukit]

Thai outlets really took off in a big way in the UK about 15 or so years ago. But not having been to the UK for a few years now, I have no idea what the current trend is.
"Indian" food still high on the list tho'.
All the boys want a gut full of lager and a curry to finish off the Friday night with.

That has been "standard" for 30 years or more now.

Chukit

[kurn]

Interesting that Indians are the dominating race among the restaurants.

Chukit

how so?

[Mad-Raz]

If you guys have not been in a uk curry house for a few years,well there has defiantly been some changes.
Flock wallpaper,Red carpet,Small booths are all in the past..
Bombay Duck! nowhere to be seen. Now its a new experience..
Family friendly large open plan room with bright lights,aircon and the music goes boom,The"must have" water feature.
Every city in the uk has a Mcdonalds, ALL exactly the same, thats the way are Indian restaurants are heading.
Is it a better experience.? Was curry better back then..Dam right it was.
Thankfully there is still one or two little gems left..CHEERS.## ##

[den15betts]

Although it was some time ago (9 years) I didn't see much difference in the taste between a curry when I visited Aus and the U.K. We ate in Surrey Hills (Sydney) and in Adelaide and I remember thinking how similar they were to my usual in Blighty. When I ordered the vindaloo in the Sydney place, the waiter warned me about how hot it was and upon hearing my accent (stupid bl**dy pommie) the manager came over to talk about BIR (not that that phrase was used then). "Tell me," he says, "They say that there are curries hotter than a vindaloo in England? Something called a Tindaloo?" "Yes" said I, "but we have even hotter where I come from, called a Phall". The man just smiled slightly and walked away, shaking his head. Stupid bl**dy Pommies.

[Rusty]

Hi All
It's been a long time since I had a curry in the Uk, and after cooking a few recipes from here the portion of meat that goes into the curry seems small for 1 to 2 people? An average takeaway curry in Adelaide has about 10 pieces of meat which is a single serve. How many pieces of meat do you get in a UK curry Takeaway ?

Just ordered a Vindaloo which is my first takeaway curry in a while, thanks to this forum

Cheers Rusty

[Philb52]

My wife and i were in Melbourne a few years ago.Our first visit from the UK. Both my daughters live there. On our first night we were taken to the Tandoori nights restaurant in Brunswick. We started off with a large mixed platter to feed 6 of us. Delicious. For the main i ordered a Chicken Madras. When i started to taste it i thought i may have someone elses curry as it was very mild. A mix up as the restaurant was fairly full. I told the waiter and he said that i did indeed have the correct dish. I said it is extremely mild for a madras...?.....I was told they couldn't make it any hotter than this as the locals wouldn't eat it. So the said dish was replaced with one that was only slightly hotter. I did say the original dish was good and i was happy to eat it though. So it did leave me wondering that if one of the locals was to come over here and ask for a Madras would they be in for a shock..Also i wondered what the difference would be between their Madras and standard chicken curry ? Were going back to Melbourne next January so hoping to go back to this restaurant . Im just wondering what to order this time round ? :lol: As a final note we find the restaurants in Coventry cook a far hotter curry than where i live now in Derby...

[British Indian]

So it did leave me wondering that if one of the locals was to come over here and ask for a Madras would they be in for a shock..

We brought our Kiwi neighbour to Manchester with us in 2001.one evening the family decided to order a takeaway from a very “old school” type takeaway. ( same family owners for decades)

Well, our Kiwi friend ordered a Chicken Madras. We did try to warn him, but he insisted. After 2 mouthfuls he was on fire, guzzling glass after glass of water

I tried it and it was way too hot for me. Ended up splitting my RJ with him.