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Meet Up In Ashton-under-Lyne 17th July 2016
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- BIRD'S EYE
- Posts: 1296
- Joined: Sun Mar 17, 2013 4:11 am
- Favourite Curries: Ceylon, Madras
- Location: Perth, WA
Re: Meet Up In Ashton-under-Lyne 17th July 2016
Excellent stuff Alchy.
Believe it or not, we used to play them in our darts/crib/dominoes league on a Monday evening back in the early 90's. Me and the wife ran a pub down the road in Dukinfield, and this place used to be some sort of social club. When it changed to a restaurant, they stayed in the darts league for a couple of seasons, as they had a few hardened drinkers that continued to use the bar.
Most places used to lay on a few sandwiches, or a meat and potato pie supper for the lads, but this place laid on a full Indian spread.........happy days...
Hope you learn a few things in the kitchen
Believe it or not, we used to play them in our darts/crib/dominoes league on a Monday evening back in the early 90's. Me and the wife ran a pub down the road in Dukinfield, and this place used to be some sort of social club. When it changed to a restaurant, they stayed in the darts league for a couple of seasons, as they had a few hardened drinkers that continued to use the bar.
Most places used to lay on a few sandwiches, or a meat and potato pie supper for the lads, but this place laid on a full Indian spread.........happy days...
Hope you learn a few things in the kitchen
- Alchemist
- BHUT JOLOKIA
- Posts: 4581
- Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 7:50 am
- Favourite Curries: Lamb Jalfrezi
- Location: West Yorkshire, England
Re: Meet Up In Ashton-under-Lyne 17th July 2016
Great story, BI. Hoping we hit the bullseye on Sunday :lol:
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- BHUT JOLOKIA
- Posts: 4354
- Joined: Mon Jul 29, 2013 8:38 am
- Favourite Curries: Chicken Vindaloo
- Location: Warrington, North West England
Re: Meet Up In Ashton-under-Lyne 17th July 2016
Amazing coincidence BI. How many years ago was that? Maybe they will remember you.
On a side note it's interesting that they are Punjabi as opposed to the more typical Bengali.
On a side note it's interesting that they are Punjabi as opposed to the more typical Bengali.
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- BIRD'S EYE
- Posts: 1296
- Joined: Sun Mar 17, 2013 4:11 am
- Favourite Curries: Ceylon, Madras
- Location: Perth, WA
Re: Meet Up In Ashton-under-Lyne 17th July 2016
1993/4. Yes, I remember the owners enjoying a pint or two with the "ordinary" punters.
They'd need a good memory to remember that, could have changed ownership a few times since then anyway.
It stuck in my mind, as it was a very strange scenario. Playing in a darts/crib/dominoes league inside an Indian restaurant is not something I've ever done before.....or since.
Have fun.
They'd need a good memory to remember that, could have changed ownership a few times since then anyway.
It stuck in my mind, as it was a very strange scenario. Playing in a darts/crib/dominoes league inside an Indian restaurant is not something I've ever done before.....or since.
Have fun.
- Greybeard
- BIRD'S EYE
- Posts: 1604
- Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 11:18 pm
- Favourite Curries: Dopiaza, Kashmiri, Madras or Garlic chicken
- Location: Somewhere north of Watford but south of Inverness
Re: Meet Up In Ashton-under-Lyne 17th July 2016
Hope you have a great time folks, I'm a bit too far away to make it unfortunately. Your photo's will be much appreciated.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
- Alchemist
- BHUT JOLOKIA
- Posts: 4581
- Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 7:50 am
- Favourite Curries: Lamb Jalfrezi
- Location: West Yorkshire, England
Re: Meet Up In Ashton-under-Lyne 17th July 2016
After battling with the one way system of Ashton-Under-Lyne (and an out of date Sat-Nav!) I eventually found my way to the ASM supermarket (is it legal to reverse down a one way street to get to a car park!? I didn't really care by that point!). Rshome and Top House were already browsing around the commercial end of the store where you could pick up cinnamon sticks as big as your arm (I'm not joking!) and huge bags of spices.
I had a list of things I needed to refresh my supplies, but soon got carried away with all the deals on offer, as per the photo below (there was also a new tawa purchased, this time non stick so my nanns didn't fall off when inverted). ASM is a great place to visit, loads of choice, cheap prices and friendly staff. We got chatting with one of the owners who told us ASM had been trading for over 40 years! She was also bemused why we were taking photos. Rshome explained by showing her one of his videos, so hopefully she is now converted into the ways of BIR!
Then onto the restaurant. We now know there are TWO Indian Ocean Restaurants in the area (one in Oldham and the other in Ashton Under Lyne) and there was a slight delay to proceedings as we sorted out the mix up
The Restaurant was bright and well presented and the menu had a Punjabi influence to it with some interesting dishes amongst the usual suspects. Popadoms were consumed whilst we perused the menu and made our choices. A mixed sharing starter and a prawn puree were selected followed by Rshome choosing the hottest thing on the menu, an Afghani Curry, myself going for the Punjabi Karahi and Top House choosing the mixed meat tandoori dish with a curry sauce. All of this was accompanied with the usual naans and rice for good measure. Rshome's dish lived up to the billing and he broke out into the most impressive curry induced sweat I have ever witnessed - well done that man for stepping up to the plate and taking one for the team!
The food was good, the service a little hit and miss, but everyone was friendly. The funniest moment for me was when Rshome asked if there was any pickle in his dish - he was told no, but there was something special in there....could this be the secret we had been waiting to hear? Well, the special ingredient was something called Worcestershire Sauce!!!
At the end of the night we asked to see the kitchen and this presented no problems. All the staff in the kitchen were very welcoming. Asking for a taste of their base gravy was also no issue. What was it like? Well, we could taste carrot and also a hint of chilli on the back of the throat, otherwise similar to any of the base gravies we have tried, medium spiced, low seasoning sort of thing. It was also not that finely blended with small lumps of onion visible.
A good afternoon, with lots of interesting talk about curries, youtube and all that jazz.
I'm sure there will be more photos to follow, but here are mine for now.
I had a list of things I needed to refresh my supplies, but soon got carried away with all the deals on offer, as per the photo below (there was also a new tawa purchased, this time non stick so my nanns didn't fall off when inverted). ASM is a great place to visit, loads of choice, cheap prices and friendly staff. We got chatting with one of the owners who told us ASM had been trading for over 40 years! She was also bemused why we were taking photos. Rshome explained by showing her one of his videos, so hopefully she is now converted into the ways of BIR!
Then onto the restaurant. We now know there are TWO Indian Ocean Restaurants in the area (one in Oldham and the other in Ashton Under Lyne) and there was a slight delay to proceedings as we sorted out the mix up
The Restaurant was bright and well presented and the menu had a Punjabi influence to it with some interesting dishes amongst the usual suspects. Popadoms were consumed whilst we perused the menu and made our choices. A mixed sharing starter and a prawn puree were selected followed by Rshome choosing the hottest thing on the menu, an Afghani Curry, myself going for the Punjabi Karahi and Top House choosing the mixed meat tandoori dish with a curry sauce. All of this was accompanied with the usual naans and rice for good measure. Rshome's dish lived up to the billing and he broke out into the most impressive curry induced sweat I have ever witnessed - well done that man for stepping up to the plate and taking one for the team!
The food was good, the service a little hit and miss, but everyone was friendly. The funniest moment for me was when Rshome asked if there was any pickle in his dish - he was told no, but there was something special in there....could this be the secret we had been waiting to hear? Well, the special ingredient was something called Worcestershire Sauce!!!
At the end of the night we asked to see the kitchen and this presented no problems. All the staff in the kitchen were very welcoming. Asking for a taste of their base gravy was also no issue. What was it like? Well, we could taste carrot and also a hint of chilli on the back of the throat, otherwise similar to any of the base gravies we have tried, medium spiced, low seasoning sort of thing. It was also not that finely blended with small lumps of onion visible.
A good afternoon, with lots of interesting talk about curries, youtube and all that jazz.
I'm sure there will be more photos to follow, but here are mine for now.
- Westy
- HABANERO
- Posts: 2240
- Joined: Thu Mar 21, 2013 1:31 pm
- Favourite Curries: Chicken Phal
- Location: Bratislava - Slovakia
Re: Meet Up In Ashton-under-Lyne 17th July 2016
Wow , looks as though you had a great time - what a shop !
A curry can never be ‘too garlicky’ or ‘too hot’ .....
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- SENIOR MODERATOR
- Posts: 3884
- Joined: Sat May 18, 2013 10:29 am
- Favourite Curries: Chicken Vindaloo
- Location: Co.Cork, Ireland
Re: Meet Up In Ashton-under-Lyne 17th July 2016
Great pics & a very interesting read, thanks Alchy.
I'm very envious of that Daawat rice.
I'm very envious of that Daawat rice.
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- BHUT JOLOKIA
- Posts: 4354
- Joined: Mon Jul 29, 2013 8:38 am
- Favourite Curries: Chicken Vindaloo
- Location: Warrington, North West England
Re: Meet Up In Ashton-under-Lyne 17th July 2016
Good pics Alchy. I've got many more, will upload them when I get a bit of spare time. Recorded a couple of very quick haphazard videos too, which I'll try to make into something presentable.
- Alchemist
- BHUT JOLOKIA
- Posts: 4581
- Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 7:50 am
- Favourite Curries: Lamb Jalfrezi
- Location: West Yorkshire, England
Re: Meet Up In Ashton-under-Lyne 17th July 2016
Rshome recommended the Daawat rice, pauly, and I'm looking forward to sampling my first taste this evening along with a couple of Glasgow style curries.
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- BIRD'S EYE
- Posts: 1296
- Joined: Sun Mar 17, 2013 4:11 am
- Favourite Curries: Ceylon, Madras
- Location: Perth, WA
Re: Meet Up In Ashton-under-Lyne 17th July 2016
Great report Alchy. Sounds like you all had fun.
- TikkaTom
- BIRD'S EYE
- Posts: 1265
- Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2014 4:13 pm
- Favourite Curries: Chicken Madras
- Location: Worcestershire, England
Re: Meet Up In Ashton-under-Lyne 17th July 2016
Thanks for the write-up Alchy, sounds like it was a great day out! Would love to try that Afgani Bum Burner!
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- JALAPENO
- Posts: 137
- Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2016 11:25 pm
- Favourite Curries: Chicken Tikka Roghan Josh
- Location: Leigh Lancashire
Re: Meet Up In Ashton-under-Lyne 17th July 2016
That sweat was hilarious, he went from calm and collected to a full on sweat in seconds!
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- BHUT JOLOKIA
- Posts: 4354
- Joined: Mon Jul 29, 2013 8:38 am
- Favourite Curries: Chicken Vindaloo
- Location: Warrington, North West England
Re: Meet Up In Ashton-under-Lyne 17th July 2016
That curry was the amongst the hottest I've ever tasted. Tasty though.
Having recovered, I've uploaded many photos to Photobucket, which you can find by clicking HERE (link to external image host removed by Admin)
I hope admin appreciates that with so many photos, it would be time consuming to resize and upload each one to the forum.
Great afternoon out, must do something similar again. Thanks for organising it Alchy, and nice to meet you TopHouse.
Having recovered, I've uploaded many photos to Photobucket, which you can find by clicking HERE (link to external image host removed by Admin)
I hope admin appreciates that with so many photos, it would be time consuming to resize and upload each one to the forum.
Great afternoon out, must do something similar again. Thanks for organising it Alchy, and nice to meet you TopHouse.
Re: Meet Up In Ashton-under-Lyne 17th July 2016
Thanks for the pictures and write up, looked like a great way to spend an afternoon
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- JALAPENO
- Posts: 137
- Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2016 11:25 pm
- Favourite Curries: Chicken Tikka Roghan Josh
- Location: Leigh Lancashire
Re: Meet Up In Ashton-under-Lyne 17th July 2016
I have more time now so a more complete post, also going to borrow a couple of rshome's pics. Unlike the others I live quite close to ASM so I do shop there, it is my favourite supplier, not only because of the levels and variety of stock, but also the good staff and the fact that it is, unlike a few I could name, very clean, it's a proper Indian grocers and cash & carry (open to the public) Can't recommend the place enough, now onto the curry report/review of Indian Ocean.
Environment was nice, comfortable, well decorated and clean, staff were reasonably attentive and not anything I would really criticise. As a starter i saw they did a chicken and prawn puri, which, being different to the usual (that i like a LOT) prawn puri I gave it a go. That was my first disappointment, the amount of topping was a litle sparse and the dish was rather dry, I recon i could have picked up the puri by an edge and let the topping come off and still have a pretty dry puri, it was decorated with a sprig of fresh coriander and not even the obligatory lemon wedge that usually comes with that dish. rshome took a pic of it i believe so you can see for yourself, verdict, not impressed.
It seems the {img} tag is crippled on this site but the pic is here :-
Main meal I chose a tandoori mixed grill, with a madras sauce and pilau rice, a peshwari nan and a plain nan.
The meat itself consisted of a tandoori chicken leg, a tandoori lamb chop, 2 pieces of garlic chicken and a seekh kebab, all was fine with that except the seekh, it was most certainly underdone and so were the onions in the dish, in fact I do believe the waiter noticed it and covered it with the onions when serving it, not wanting to be regarded as picky, judge for yourself in this pic :-
Onto the madras sauce, everyone had a taste and agreed with me that it was underdone, the heat (spice heat not hot/cold heat) was too harsh, just as if someone had put chilli powder into some base and just heated and stirred through, it's what I refer to as a 'too young' sauce in that the spices added to base haven't been 'cooked in' enough, so sauce was a disappointment, plain nan was fine but the peshwari wasn't the best and had a bit more of the fall apart syndrome than others I've had. Rice was ok but then again not a lot to break with rice.
So, overall verdict, decent company but the food didn't do it for me. However the trip into the kitchens made it worthwhile too and in that respect they were very accomodating, as Alchy has said, the base definitely had a dominance of carrot so more than the usual 1 or a 1/2 carrot in their base and definitely some chillies in there, which to be honest, i do add chillies to my base too.
EDIT
Forgot to mention, I though it was overpriced too.
Environment was nice, comfortable, well decorated and clean, staff were reasonably attentive and not anything I would really criticise. As a starter i saw they did a chicken and prawn puri, which, being different to the usual (that i like a LOT) prawn puri I gave it a go. That was my first disappointment, the amount of topping was a litle sparse and the dish was rather dry, I recon i could have picked up the puri by an edge and let the topping come off and still have a pretty dry puri, it was decorated with a sprig of fresh coriander and not even the obligatory lemon wedge that usually comes with that dish. rshome took a pic of it i believe so you can see for yourself, verdict, not impressed.
It seems the {img} tag is crippled on this site but the pic is here :-
Main meal I chose a tandoori mixed grill, with a madras sauce and pilau rice, a peshwari nan and a plain nan.
The meat itself consisted of a tandoori chicken leg, a tandoori lamb chop, 2 pieces of garlic chicken and a seekh kebab, all was fine with that except the seekh, it was most certainly underdone and so were the onions in the dish, in fact I do believe the waiter noticed it and covered it with the onions when serving it, not wanting to be regarded as picky, judge for yourself in this pic :-
Onto the madras sauce, everyone had a taste and agreed with me that it was underdone, the heat (spice heat not hot/cold heat) was too harsh, just as if someone had put chilli powder into some base and just heated and stirred through, it's what I refer to as a 'too young' sauce in that the spices added to base haven't been 'cooked in' enough, so sauce was a disappointment, plain nan was fine but the peshwari wasn't the best and had a bit more of the fall apart syndrome than others I've had. Rice was ok but then again not a lot to break with rice.
So, overall verdict, decent company but the food didn't do it for me. However the trip into the kitchens made it worthwhile too and in that respect they were very accomodating, as Alchy has said, the base definitely had a dominance of carrot so more than the usual 1 or a 1/2 carrot in their base and definitely some chillies in there, which to be honest, i do add chillies to my base too.
EDIT
Forgot to mention, I though it was overpriced too.
Last edited by TopHouse on Tue Jul 19, 2016 1:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Rusty
- BIRD'S EYE
- Posts: 1346
- Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2016 2:30 am
- Favourite Curries: Vindaloo
- Location: Adelaide South Australia
Re: Meet Up In Ashton-under-Lyne 17th July 2016
Interesting read guys cheers Rusty
The best day of the week to prepare onions for a base gravy is a Fryday
- Admin
- ADMINISTRATOR
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- Joined: Fri Mar 01, 2013 2:12 am
- Favourite Curries: King Prawn Phal
- Location: Perth, Western Australia
Re: Meet Up In Ashton-under-Lyne 17th July 2016
Glad to hear that you had a great time and thanks for sharing your photos
However, I have removed links to external image hosting websites. Please use the forums upload attachment function to upload images to this forum (How to Post Attachments & Photos). The {img} tags have been disabled (rather than "crippled").
Tophouse: I have downloaded your images from Photobucket and uploaded them to the forum using the forums upload attachment function.
RSH: I understand your rationale, but please rather upload a selection of your photos to the forum using the forums upload attachment function.
Thank you for your understanding.
However, I have removed links to external image hosting websites. Please use the forums upload attachment function to upload images to this forum (How to Post Attachments & Photos). The {img} tags have been disabled (rather than "crippled").
Tophouse: I have downloaded your images from Photobucket and uploaded them to the forum using the forums upload attachment function.
RSH: I understand your rationale, but please rather upload a selection of your photos to the forum using the forums upload attachment function.
Thank you for your understanding.
Administrator - BIRCurries.co.uk (aka Cory Ander)
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- BHUT JOLOKIA
- Posts: 4354
- Joined: Mon Jul 29, 2013 8:38 am
- Favourite Curries: Chicken Vindaloo
- Location: Warrington, North West England
Re: Meet Up In Ashton-under-Lyne 17th July 2016
I found a solution, using an ioS app called PhotoGrid!
- Cory Ander
- SENIOR MODERATOR
- Posts: 9521
- Joined: Sat Mar 02, 2013 3:52 pm
- Favourite Curries: King Prawn Phal
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