A Lockdown Takeaway Treat From The Curry Lounge, Somercotes
Published On Wednesday 22 Apr 2020 by Sticky Beak
See Recent Take Away Reviews | See All Recent Reviews
Regular readers of this blog will soon spot the error, but for now I shall carry on regardless before filling you in on my ineptitude in a wee while. It’s day gazillion in the locked down nest and, to be totally frank with you, The Man Bird is thoroughly wazzed-off with my cooking skills or lack thereof! It was a case of suffer yet again at the hand of my culinary efforts or scout out which local restaurants were still operating in a collect or delivery capacity – guess which option he took?!
Thankfully our fab local Indian restaurant, The Curry Lounge, is still trading and gives you the option to either have your meal delivered or you can nip up and collect it at a specified time. Given the fact that we’re less than a mile from the venue, we figured it would be better to nip up and grab it ourselves rather than have it doing however many miles along with other folks’ choices. We used ‘food hub’ to place our order and pay for it, but you can still order from The Curry Lounge by phoning them up.
Off His Nibs trotted (via little detour to the Co-op to grab some chilled Cobra beers and bits that I’d forgotten to get on the shopping list – oops!!) and it wasn’t long before he returned, victoriously clutching the bag of yumminess that would save him and his digestive system from my ‘cooking’ for 24 hours.
In his absence I had been a dutiful wifey and got the plates and cutlery out, so all we had to do was get the containers out of the bag, wash our hands and dish our chosen curries up. We’d both chosen dishes we’d had before from the Curry Lounge Signatures section of the menu: Murghi Masalam for Him and Coco Rani for me – both are chicken based dishes with a 2 chilli rating. As per our usual habit when dining in (who can remember the heady days of doing that?!), we had a portion of Lemon and Chilli Rice and a Garlic Naan Bread: rock n roll, or what?
One thing you’re not going to be after scoffing a curry from The Curry Lounge is hungry – each container had got enough in for at least two people (!) which is fine by me. My Coco Rani dish comprises pieces of Chicken breast cooked in Goan Masala spices with fresh Coriander, Green Chillies and Coconut Milk, and the chunks of chicken were very much in evidence – none of that “hunt through the sauce to find the meat” malarkey here, it was staring me right in the mush. The chicken pieces were tender and moist and fell apart easily as I cut into them, and the accompanying sauce had a decent heat to it that made my palate sit up and pay attention without making my lips or tongue tingle. There were also plenty of Onions and Peppers in the dish to give a bit of crunch and colour to the meal. I have to say that it was every bit as good as the version I’ve previously eaten in-house, just maybe not as piping hot - but then, given the fact it has to come out of the kitchen, get picked up, get home, be unpacked and get popped on the plate, it’s never going to be quite as hot is it?
His Nibs was equally happy with his choice of dish; his beloved Murghi Masalam. As with my dish, there was more chicken than you could shake a stick at nestled in amongst the sauce; actually this dish is a double delight of chicken: you get chunks of poultry as well as minced chicken in the Murghi Masalam. The spices used in this dish give it a beautiful kick but not so much that it leaves your mouth tingling; more of a layered heat whose components reveal themselves over a few seconds. There are also Potatoes, Tomatoes and fresh Coriander in this delicious dish and His Nibs immersed himself in the task of scooping them up into his mouth with bits of the Garlic Naan bread.
Okey doke, this is where I have to come clean about my rookie error. You may have noticed by now that there is a distinct lack of photographs of this marvellous feast; yup, in our giddy excitement of ordering food and GOING OUT to pick it up from a RESTAURANT, we had been so eager to unpack it and tuck in that we’d completely forgotten to capture it on film!! Duh!!! I don’t feel too bad though because, let’s face it, we all know what a takeaway container of curry looks like don’t we? And it’s not like there was a particularly fancy garnish that would’ve looked beautiful on film or HD card, so you haven’t really missed out on anything – but I do apologise to you for being such a greedy, piggy dufus. I can’t guarantee it’ll not happen again in this covid-craziness, but I shall try to do better next time.
Curry Lounge does a splendid selection of rice’s (10 to be exact) and our fave is the Lemon and Chilli one. The rice itself is always lovely and fluffy and you get a nice amount of fine Lemon rind that is clean on the palate, partnered by fiery, finely chopped Green Chillies to kick the heat factor up. Not only that, but the yellow rind and green chilli contrast very well to give this humble accompaniment some visual appeal too.
Any curry house worth its Tikka Masala can make Naan Breads, but The Curry Lounge Chefs do a great job with theirs, I must say. The texture is pleasantly light and it isn’t clarty in the mouth; best of all though, if you choose a “flavour” of Naan bread, you can certainly taste it. We always get a great hit of Garlic with the Garlic Naan bread, and you can see the slices of garlic in it I’ve also had the Peshwari type and it’s stuffed to the brim in the middle with coconut and dried fruits, so you can really savour its sweeter edge.
Hot Wings given to this brilliant team for their takeaway offering; I can’t comment on how it would be if we’d chosen the delivery option (given that it always takes longer for your food to arrive), but if you go and collect it yourself (as we did) then it’s super.
Normally, The Curry Lounge is shut on Tuesdays but whilst this Coronavirus madness with social distancing and lockdown is on-going they are open 7 days a week. More than ever, local businesses need our support so why not treat yourself to a scrummy curry?.
www.curryloungederby.co.uk
foodhub.co.uk/takeaway/somercote/curry-lounge
| An Indian Takeaway Delivered By Delhi In Eastwood I sometimes think that the universe is tab-hanging on my conversations, and I will tell you why. A couple of weeks ago The Man and I were out with our good friends Mr and Read The Article | |
| Takeaway Afternoon Tea from The Orangery at St Elphin's Park, Darley Dale One of the things I love about the blog is getting to try things out before they really go 'live' out in the big wide world, and on this occasion (Mothers Day Read The Article | |
| A Weekend Takeaway from Kathmandu Gurkha, Ripley It's been a busy few weeks for The Man Bird and I, and with the forecast for the weekend being superb, it was going to get even busier. With that in mind, we planned to stuff our Read The Article | |
| A Fool-Proof Valentines Dinner from Arthur's In Belper The Man Bird and I have cooked a Steak dinner (or gone out for one) for Valentines Day for as long as I can remember, but thanks to lockdown still going strong there was no chance Read The Article | |
| Pick 'em' Mix; Sweets delivered to your Door Everybody likes sweeties don't they; I'm not saying you have to have them every day or anything, but I bet that we can all think of a favourite sweet from our childhoods or adult lives. Read The Article | |
| A Valentines Day Breakfast Platter From Crazy Cooks Caterers In Alfreton How do you celebrate the first Valentines Day in #lockdown? With a bought-in breakfast of course. But not just any old brekkie; this was a revved-up platter from Read The Article | |
| Pie Night Takeaway from The Three Horseshoes In Clay Cross I'm never the most motivated person when it comes to cooking, I'll freely admit; but the combination of cold weather and dark nights leaves me even less enthusiastic Read The Article | |
| A Lockdown Takeaway From Lotus Indian Kitchen At Mercia Marina, Willington Well folks, I have to say that lockdown 3.0 feels a bit like Groundhog day here at Beak HQ and I'm sure we're not alone feeling like this! Luckily there are a lot of fantastic Read The Article | |
| Takeaway Tapas From The Black Swan In Belper We're loving having Fledge back from University, the nest is much livelier and upbeat, and she pesters us to expand our usual weekly domestic menu choices. To herald the start of one Read The Article | |
| A Takeaway Dinner From The Dog At Pentrich I love it when The Man Bird asks me if I can really be bothered to cook that night; erm, no. No, I cant. I suspect that his tummy can't take any more of my cuisine either and that it’s begging Read The Article | |