Oh Calcutta

By ELEANOR BLACK for canvas

Could a pot of curry and a bit of naan be the most warming of all possible meals? We were banking on it as, ears chilled and noses numb, we ploughed through the door of Oh Calcutta on the back of a cold snap, ready to be soothed.

Two things were immediately apparent. The place was packed and the white-suited chefs at the back of restaurant were almost dancing with the effort of getting meals on to tables. Secondly, Scottish comedian Billy Connelly had eaten here - his smiling picture sitting next to a row of backlit beer bottles proved it.

Choosing a possie under a rather voluptuous representation of what I'm assuming was a goddess, we basked in the spicy cloud emitted from the food at the next table and cosied up to the idea of a long evening in the terracotta-coloured dining room. It was so much warmer than home.

Nibbling on wafer-thin poppadoms as we read the menu, we decided to share a mixed platter of samosas, pakoras (patties made from mixed vegetables coated in flour and fried), lamb kebabs, and generous chunks of chicken tikka ($17 for two people). The dish came with two dipping sauces - red and spicy, and white and cooling - which added a certain zing to an otherwise bland starter which we could have duplicated at any Indian takeaway.

A modest wait between courses gave us a chance to enjoy the Church Road 2002 Sauvignon Blanc ($35) and play with a dish of hot and spicy pickles ($2.50) we ordered out of curiosity. We tried them on poppadom, with the remains of the mixed platter, and later, with rice, but were defeated by their hot/sweet liquorice afterburn, undoubtedly an acquired taste.

It took several swigs of the Church Road to kill the liquorice and I was more than ready for something rich and savoury when my butter prawns ($18.50) arrived in a small silver bowl. Served in a heavy tomato sauce infused with cumin, garlic and coriander, the prawns were plump, tender and more plentiful than you would expect for this price. The fragrant sauce was great for dipping the cheese naan ($3.95 for two large pieces) and pouring over the rice, which came to the table without having to be ordered separately, a particularly annoying trick at some Indian restaurants.

Tim's chicken makhanwala ($18.50), a Mughal dish which the menu claims was introduced to New Zealand by Oh Calcutta, was good, although the chicken, cooked in the tandoor oven, was nearly overwhelmed by onion and fenugreek, that sweet yet bitter spice which gives curry its distinctive flavour.

Both meals were so generously sized - and decadently creamy - that dessert was impossible. We finished our wine and absorbed as much heat as possible before bidding Billy Connelly goodnight and slipping back into the cold.

Cost: $95.45 for a shared entree, two mains, two side dishes and a bottle of wine.

* Read more about what's happening in the world of food, wine, party places and entertainment in canvas magazine, part of your Weekend Herald print edition.