CURRY SCENE

The delightful little city of Hereford contains seven Indian restaurants in or close to the city center. Starting with those marginally outside the city center (i.e. the other side of the ‘ring road’, but only minutes from the center) there is Khana Khazana at 156 Eign Street to the west side of town. This looks to be a fairly ordinary high street restaurant, with standard menu. It seats about 60 on what appeared to be basic, metal-framed chairs (like those in school or church halls).  It does not accept credit cards.

Moving in a clockwise direction, Kamal is at 82 Widemarsh Street, again only just over the ‘ring road’. This looked a pleasant enough restaurant with friendly staff, who told me they had been there for about three years (although by appearances it looks more than three years old). It seats 50 diners in comfortable, well-used surroundings and offers all the usuals on the menu plus a few less common dishes. I could only eat in one of the restaurants (see individual report), but from appearances, this would have been my second choice. 

Just a little bit further down the street on the opposite side of the road at number 85 is the Hereford Balti Centre. Although closed when I visited it appeared small, rather scruffy and unprepossessing. It does not have a licence, but you can BYO.

Moving round, the Glass Tandoor is at 62 Commercial Road, again just over the ‘ring road’. This looked even less welcoming, being a paint-chipped door behind which were grubby stairs leading to the unseen restaurant upstairs. It was next door to a Fish & chips/burger/kebab take-away and a rough-looking bar, which didn’t encourage a visit, particularly later in the evening. However, who knows? – the dining area might be comfortable and the food good, although the menu was a standard list.

Moving to those within the old city boundaries, Café India is at 2 Union Street. From the name I expected a modern, contemporary-style restaurant along the lines of others around the country that adopt such a name. I was disappointed! It was a fast food, burger bar-style café that did offer Indian dishes (most of the usuals), but also served burgers, fish & chips, fried chicken, kebabs etc. The limited seating (about 25) was at the plastic tables and chairs common to burger bars, with the same atmosphere. Not a restaurant for a comfortable evening meal, but OK for take-away or fast-food version. I understand that they used to have a proper restaurant above (with the downstairs concentrating on the burgers, fried chicken etc.) but this closed some time ago.

This brings us to St Owen Street, where there are two restaurants opposite each other. One is the Mirpur at number 60. I’m afraid it was another that was less than enticing. It seats about 60 on plain, metal-framed chairs but it had a tatty and grubby look about it all. It may not stay this was for long as a notice in the window informed us that xxxxxxxxx, a dental nurse from Birmingham had applied for the restaurant licence and the manager told me it was about to change hands. From teeth to tikka’s – a curious move! Possibly not a good commercial move for the restaurant though, as throughout the Saturday night I was there it remained steadfastly empty!

Leaving the best (certainly by appearances) to last, there is The Taste of the Raj on the opposite side of the road at number 67 St Owen Street. It was the only one of the restaurants to present a clean and inviting outside, and the inside was also better decorated. The co-owner of the accommodation in which I stayed (the excellent Brandon Lodge Guest House if anyone’s thinking of a short break in Hereford) told me that one of his regular guests eats there and recommends it. I was grateful for this pointer, but I must admit that after seeing them all I would have opted for this one in any event. See individual report for details.

In conclusion, I was a little surprised that none of the seven Indian restaurants had gone for the modern trend of contemporary or smarter premises given the city has a charming ambience and attracts many visitors, and all but the last one mentioned (and perhaps Kamal) were positively basic in appearance and comfort. However, this does not mean the food is not excellent – it might well be. Indeed, much of the best Indian food I have eaten has been in basic restaurants – but you have to attract the punters in before they can taste the food!

 Malcolm Wilkins - August 2004