Herald rating: * * 1/2
Address: 407 Mt Eden Rd
Phone: 639 0888
Web: www.nitespice.co.nz
Open: Dinner 7 days, Lunch Tues-Sat
Cuisine: North Indian
Vegetarian: You have to ask?
Wine: Super-market-able
KEY POINTS:
Go somewhere cheap'n'cheerful, said The New Lady Editor, possibly inspired by articles about how people can't afford to eat out in the economic climate, or don't want to in the meteorological one. Bet the Fraternity of Haricot-Enumerators has been checking the Viva Visa bill again. Well, here we go then.
We were half a minute out of Hamilton when the hitch-hikers kicked in. Two German lads and a Japanese lass, heading for the plane to Jakarta tomorrow. Meeting friends at a backpackers in Mt Eden. We dropped them off and ...
"It's the supermarket or a cheap'n'cheerful," said Jude. "Funny you should say that," said I. "There's a carpark. What about the place over the road?"
Aaah, winter. That time of the twelve-month for strong flavours, slow-cooking cheaper cuts of meat, gutsy root veges and gravy. We parked opposite the Indian and settled in for a curry.
Have you noticed how cold too many eateries are? This one was. Jude asked the man to turn up the heater. He found a spare remote and pointed it at the grille in the roof. He may have wanted to see what was on the Discovery Channel. For all the good it did.
We should talk about the food. It is, as so many of you have been kind enough to point out, what we are supposed to be here for. Well, this is a North Indian place.
They do curries. Lots of them. Aromas and herbs and spices and gravies and I absolutely defy you to tell me that you can determine whether they contain what it says on the menu or not.
They're soupy, sloppy, you spoon the rice on to your plate and ladle the cubes of ... "Did we order the chicken or the lamb?" ... on top of it, or beside it, depending on your personal predilections.
Gobbets slobber on to the tablecloth or paper as the case may be, you slurp it up, you lick your fingers and that's more than likely the best part of the meal. There are naan or were they roti and you use them to slollop up the sauce. ("Slollop". I just made up that word. Don't you think it's absolutely perfect for that moment when you dip your pancake in, and get a slurp of sauce or a dollop of meat and rice?)
Ask me what we ordered. I'll have to check the bill. Apparently there was a chicken and fenugreek thingie and a saagwala whatchamacallit and a pakora hows-your-father. Beers of some denomination. Talk to any Indian pal and they'll tell you everyone measures the sub-continental restaurants in Auckland against Satya. They'll complain it's unfair, that there are different cuisines from the North and South or anywhere else in the cricket league, and holding up Satya as the Big Chilli is like comparing Tuscan against Neapolitan, or Ponsonby real estate against Otara. I know it's unfair but there it is.
Sheer coincidence, I was chatting to a chef mate a night or two later. He'd been at a function in Mt Eden and been recommended to eat at the same place. Knows his food. Especially Indian. "All gravy and no flavour," he said.
Cheap and cheerful? Well, it cost $51.70 so that's easy on the wallet. I guess we got it half-right.
