Darjeeling on the Rue Stevin, close by the Oirish pubs in the foothills of the Berlaymont, is well placed for the traditional curry after a night on the Guinness. It's fairly minimalist inside and if it's not busy can feel a bit soulless, but I assure you the food makes up for the lack of atmosphere. It is rather reminiscent of an ordinary curry house in a British provincial town - no frills, no phoney orientalism, some unobtrusive sitar music and a waft of cardamom on the air.
Traditional poppadoms come free of charge, with a selection of splatters. When was it that chutney gave way to splatter? Mango chutney is one of the great things in Indian cuisine, and I think it is a shame you don't see it in more restaurants. Perhaps people in Belgium would confuse it with jam.
We eschewed the tempting and large selection of samosas, bhajis and other starters, and headed straight for the main attraction. I have a low tolerance threshold for spicy food, and when dining Indian usually order chicken or lamb shahi korma, or if I'm feeling really adventurous, butter chicken! Darjeeling's menu carries copious explanations and descriptions of dishes, some of which can be adapted to lamb, chicken or prawns, and which encourage nervous diners such as myself to try something new. However, on this night I was true to form and had a chicken muglai korma. The chicken was succulent and juicy, and bathed in a creamy sauce with almond flakes in. My dining partner Lolo La Clope (for it was she) had a chicken madras which from its colour looked decidedly more aggressive than my choice, but her taste buds are made of sterner stuff than mine. Probably deadened by thirty fags a day.
There is also a wide selection of tandoori dishes to choose from and various kinds of breads, vegetable accompaniments and rice dishes. Instead of basmati or pillau rice, we shared a vegetable biryani to accompany our meat dishes. This gives additional vegetables and the rice is more flavourful. The house wine is surprisingly drinkable and moderately priced, although I believe they do not stock Cobra or Kingfisher Indian beers. However, Belgian beers are low in gas so are perfectly suitable to drink with Indian food.
Only later on perusing the menu on their website did I notice that they offer a couple of "Thali" selections of four different dishes, enabling you to try small portions of things you may not have tried before, and I will certainly try one of these next time. Midweek lunchtimes they do an all-you-can-eat buffet, and given the proximity of the Berlaymont, I imagine they do a roaring trade, which would allow them to close at the weekends, but thankfully the only time they close is Sunday lunchtime.
I have been warned that Darjeeling are not very good at coping with large parties, and it is true that on the Saturday night we visited, there were only two people serving the few occupied tables. But if you are a party of up to four people, you should be OK. The owners serve the food themselves and the lady of the house is a charming hostess in an elegant sari.
Worth noting that Darjeeling also do a take-away service, and even deliver for a small extra charge of 9 euros. Check out their website for the full menu.
Traditional poppadoms come free of charge, with a selection of splatters. When was it that chutney gave way to splatter? Mango chutney is one of the great things in Indian cuisine, and I think it is a shame you don't see it in more restaurants. Perhaps people in Belgium would confuse it with jam.
We eschewed the tempting and large selection of samosas, bhajis and other starters, and headed straight for the main attraction. I have a low tolerance threshold for spicy food, and when dining Indian usually order chicken or lamb shahi korma, or if I'm feeling really adventurous, butter chicken! Darjeeling's menu carries copious explanations and descriptions of dishes, some of which can be adapted to lamb, chicken or prawns, and which encourage nervous diners such as myself to try something new. However, on this night I was true to form and had a chicken muglai korma. The chicken was succulent and juicy, and bathed in a creamy sauce with almond flakes in. My dining partner Lolo La Clope (for it was she) had a chicken madras which from its colour looked decidedly more aggressive than my choice, but her taste buds are made of sterner stuff than mine. Probably deadened by thirty fags a day.
There is also a wide selection of tandoori dishes to choose from and various kinds of breads, vegetable accompaniments and rice dishes. Instead of basmati or pillau rice, we shared a vegetable biryani to accompany our meat dishes. This gives additional vegetables and the rice is more flavourful. The house wine is surprisingly drinkable and moderately priced, although I believe they do not stock Cobra or Kingfisher Indian beers. However, Belgian beers are low in gas so are perfectly suitable to drink with Indian food.
Only later on perusing the menu on their website did I notice that they offer a couple of "Thali" selections of four different dishes, enabling you to try small portions of things you may not have tried before, and I will certainly try one of these next time. Midweek lunchtimes they do an all-you-can-eat buffet, and given the proximity of the Berlaymont, I imagine they do a roaring trade, which would allow them to close at the weekends, but thankfully the only time they close is Sunday lunchtime.
I have been warned that Darjeeling are not very good at coping with large parties, and it is true that on the Saturday night we visited, there were only two people serving the few occupied tables. But if you are a party of up to four people, you should be OK. The owners serve the food themselves and the lady of the house is a charming hostess in an elegant sari.
Worth noting that Darjeeling also do a take-away service, and even deliver for a small extra charge of 9 euros. Check out their website for the full menu.
Darjeeling
106 rue Stevin
Tel: 02 230 1361
www.restodarjeeling.com
