Kismet has been a Romsey Town institution for decades. My mother lives close by and we would often grab a takeaway when visiting. Unfortunately, I never managed to get many reviews done but here is one from 2015.

Kismet has always offered a consistent service and has rarely let us down, so naturally, I was sad to hear that it was under new management at it feels like the end of an era.

The new takeaway is called ‘Curry Flame’. It has been in new hands for a few weeks but has only just had a new sign put up.

I was excited to see what Curry Flame had to offer, especially since I have not heard anything about it on the Cambridge Curry Community. We simply can’t have a new Indian restaurant on the scene without a review, so I decided to pop in.

Since it was a new restaurant we decided to order our favourites in order to get a better idea of quality. Naturally, I went for the Chicken Tikka Vindaloo and Mushroom Rice. We also ordered the Lamb Jalfrezi and a Prawn Rogan Josh.

The presentation on my vindaloo was excellent with little sign of excessive oil. It was a great colour with a delicious flavour. The curry was served with a generous portion of large chicken chunks with a few small potatoes.

The chicken quality was good too. It was not only juicy and tender but quite flavorful, even through the sauce. I was delighted to see that it was tikka’d properly. Top marks!

The jalfrezi was also exceptional. I’ll be honest, I am not a big fan of the jalfrezi and have only ever enjoyed it a handful of times but this was one of them. The lamb was especially good! It was one of the best examples of jalfrezi I have sampled.

I did not try the prawn Rogan Josh myself but it looked good. My guest said that they were very generous with the prawns, which was becoming a common theme throughout our dishes. With so many places scrimping back to manage costs at the moment, I wonder how they do it? She also said that it was slightly more spicy than how it is usually served, which she was pleased about.

It was unanimous that our first visit to Curry Flame was a success. Everyone enjoyed their meal and two of us thought that it was especially good.

Expect generous meat portions, good flavour, great presentation, and surprising value with the three of us dining for around £35.