People watching at The Golden Curry and its fancy new look.

I walked into The Golden Curry on Mill Road the other month and was shocked to find it covered in sheets and a couple of very confused painters staring at me. Needless to say, they were having some work done, I just hadn’t noticed the sign which had been taken down on the front door. I was slightly annoyed at the time, mainly at myself for being in my usual state of obliviousness and walking straight into a closed restaurant.

I was also excited because I have always liked The Golden Curry, yet have noticed over the years that it has started to look a little worse for wear. I couldn’t wait to see what they were going to do with it.

Tonight I finally got to see what they have envisioned.

They have gone for a modest look on the outside of the restaurant (as seen above) with a brown coat of paint instead of the old traditional green (shown below). They haven’t had a chance to put up the sign yet, which could really pull the look together, but to be honest, I am currently not too keen on the outside. The restaurant is easier to miss and doesn’t stand out like it did before.

The place really pops when you walk in. We were warmly welcomed with their usual friendly staff, they were quick to show off their new fish tank in front of the entrance and tell us that the sign outside is coming soon. The place looks much cleaner and nicer on the inside. The fish tank really pulls the look together too giving it a comfortable atmosphere. I can imagine when it gets a bit darker that it could be very cosy.

Even though the place looks much cleaner and more modern, a lick of paint, and some new furniture, it still looked quite bare. There was hardly anything on the walls and like I said before, the main sign outside is missing. It must be a working progress. You would think that they would have got the place completely done up properly and then had a grand opening.

We were seated in one of my favourite spots in the restaurant, right in the corner, which looks out to the street. Mill Road is an interesting, vibrant and diverse area of the city and it’s really fun to sit there and people watch while eating a meal. I never realised how dangerous Mill Road actually was until I sat there today. I witnessed about 5 near accidents with cars and cyclists. It certainly was entertaining!

The first thing I noticed on the menu was how competitive the prices were. A chicken vindaloo was under £6. We were at India House the other day and the same dish was around £8. That’s quite a difference. They also had Cobra beer on tap for £3.95, that doesn’t sound cheap (and it isn’t) but in comparison to other Indians in the area that is quite reasonable.

We ordered a couple of poppadoms before our meal and were given three sauces. Mango chutney, chopped beetroot and lime pickle. We didn’t get the usual four sides you’d usually get in most places, with no yogurt or chopped onions, but the portions were incredibly generous. The mango chutney especially was enough for 10 poppadoms, sadly it was a little runny but still quite nice. The lime pickle was fantastic.

The service was fast and friendly. Our meal came out within 20 minutes. My chicken vindaloo was quite underwhelming. It hardly blew me away and sadly was quite mild.

The rice was nice and of reasonable size but was hardly enough to save the meal from the curry. I have to keep in mind that the curry was under £6 because otherwise I would have been incredibly disappointed with it. I think most people would have preferred to pay a little more and have a much more flavoured and spicy vindaloo in this circumstance.

After our meal they brought us out a shot of Baileys and ice which went down well. They also supplied us with a hot towel to freshen up with.

It’s a shame I didn’t need it as the curry wasn’t very spicy, I could have really done with that after my meal at India House the other day because that was a HOT curry.

It seems to be something that is going out of fashion around here nowadays. It used to be the norm to get a hot towel after a meal but it is becoming increasingly rare nowadays.

Overall, the meal was great value, it came to around £5 cheaper than the average meal for two. This being said the starters were fine but the main was a little disappointing. When you order a vindaloo you expect a bit of heat and flavour. We were glad to be given a shot of baileys and a hot towel at the end of the meal, and it was great to sit by the window and people watch while eating our dinner. Not to mention that the staff and service was great.

I really like the new look of the place, it’s certainly feeling a lot better there than it was, but it’s still incomplete. I might come take a look again in the future when they have had a chance to put the sign back up and put some extra decoration in there.

The biggest thing that let this place down was the main course. You can get everything else right but if the main isn’t very good then there is not much you can do! It’s what you come for!

3.5/5