BALTI CURRIES(Secrets of Nepal), 47 ARWENACK  STREET

This small and rather plain frontage has fooled me for some time into believing it was a take-away only. It was only on this visit to Falmouth that I realised that there was a small restaurant in the back. The manager told me that it was the site of the first Indian restaurant in Cornwall, opening 31 years ago and originally called Hannan Tandoori. They also told me that it changed name to Balti Curries in the mid nineties but since 1998 has been run as a Nepalese restaurant, although the name of Balti Curries is retained on the restaurant frontage. (Subsequent to this I was told that the site of Cornwall’s first Indian restaurant was the other end of town, so who knows!)

Behind the counter and reception area the restaurant seats 36 in a fairly plain and well used but comfortable atmosphere with Indian scenes painted on the wall mirrors providing an interesting and colourful decor. The very friendly waiter stressed several times that it was a Nepalese restaurant and the menu has Secrets of Nepal under Balti Curries (which perhaps indicates an identity crisis - are they going the rename it I wonder?  * see post script) However, the menu contained very little to indicate it was Nepalese - the only Nepalese dishes recognisable by name was Gorkhali Chicken (chicken marinated with garlic, chillis and herbs and which should, I think, have read Gurkhali Chicken), Aloo Tama (potatoes and bamboo shoots) and Kalo Dal (made with black lentils). The remainder was a fairly limited but quite adequate list of standard Indian dishes. Having said that I did ask about some Nepalese dishes - Momos, Pickled Potatoes, Mooli Chicken and he said they and sometimes do offer Momo and could do others on request. However, as this led to an interesting discussion on Nepal (where I am fortunate enough to have worked) he may just have said it to impress.

We had the fairly standard starters of Chicken Tikka and Onion Bhaji. The chicken was very good - a nicely marinated moist and succulent chicken breast sliced on some lettuce. However, the Onion Bhajias were a different matter. Two flat (and I mean flat!) bhajias which had been ‘patted’ down so much that they looked like cheap beefburgers, but there was no air in them and were so solid that you could have soled a pair of shoes with them (and got a good few months of wear to boot!). Even worse, the bit we tasted was almost tasteless and, very unusually, we left them uneaten with only a small bite out of each. They were also served without any accompaniment or raita to alleviate the dryness. Probably - no definitely - the worst Onion Bhajias I have had (but to be fair he did not charge for them seeing as how we hadn’t really eaten them).

For my dish I chose the Gorkhali Chicken, which was quite tasty but nowhere near as hot as it should have been or as described on the menu (‘similar to chicken Jalfrezy (sic) but with added garlic and ginger in Nepalese style’). My wife chose Chicken Dupiaza which was very bland and again nowhere near the ‘medium hot’ that the menu described. The Nepalese Vegetables was a good mix, including the black lentils and black eyed beans that the Nepalese like to use, but again rather bland, while the Aloo Tama was similarly innocuous and very oily. Both would have benefited from the addition of some salt. Rice (not listed as ‘bhat’ I noticed, the Nepalese  word for rice) was standard stuff.

Portions quite sufficient and prices, while slightly higher than many places, probably about average for Cornwall where they tend to be a bit above elsewhere. Service good and the owner and waiter were extremely friendly.  I would love to give this a good report, particularly with it’s history and the friendliness of the staff, but unfortunately I really cannot, although to be fair to them, when he asked how the food was and I said a bit bland he did say that they could cook the dishes hotter by request. However, I’d rather not have to ask.

Malcolm Wilkins - November 2001