Pink Garlic, Bromley

Wednesday 11^th June 2014

It was Bromley’s ‘new’ Indian restaurant, Pink Garlic that we paid a visit to this month.  The added punctuation is because Indian food has actually been served here for many years but in its previous incarnations  ‘Ruby’  and the short lived  ‘Indian Ocean’.  Both were good but could not survive the competition with popular Shampan 2, almost next door.

Barabar, Petts Wood

Wednesday 14th May 2014

You could be forgiven for missing Barabar, tucked away as it is, off Petts Wood’s main high street and hidden beneath scaffolding but that would be a shame, as it’s a real gem.

The Chilli Diaries Awards 2013

2013; another great year for The Chilli Diaries and its group of curry connoisseurs in our search for the best Indian restaurants Bromley has to offer.  Fourteen more were reviewed this year.  That makes thirty-four out of seventy-six known restaurants in the borough that have had the Chilli Diaries treatment.  Just four more years until we’ve done the lot!  Anyway, after our exhaustive search, we can now reveal who was top of the poppadams in 2013;

'THE CHILLI DIARIES INDIAN RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR'

Cinnamon Culture, Bromley

 

 

Culture Club. Manpreet Dhingra accepting the award

Cinnamon Culture is not the sort of place we originally envisaged reviewing for the Chilli Diaries.  This is the kind of fine dining that you would expect to find in central London, not little old Bromley.  But seeing as we are fortunate enough to have a restaurant of this calibre on our door step, it would be wrong to fail to acknowledge it.  

Curry House, West Wickham

Wednesday 13th November 2013

This month’s curry club came around with the minimum of build-up. Curry House doesn’t have much of a reputation and it was with less excitement, more trepidation that the curry clubbers approached this restaurant, possibly fearing the worst.  Instead, what we found was a little gem.

The Darjeeling, Bromley

Wednesday 9th October 2013 

Last month’s visit to such a posh Indian restaurant was a shock to the system for a number of the club, so we got back to more familiar territory with The Darjeeling in Bromley.

Indian restaurateurs have been trying to make a go of it on this site for years.  It was formally ‘Café East’ and more recently the short-lived ‘Bromley Masala’.   So I was interested to see if this new incarnation has what it takes to become a permanent fixture on the Bromley curry scene.

First impressions were good.  It is all very smart and new but it has cool atmospheric lighting, cosy tables and carpet, which I always think helps create a warm atmosphere.  It looked like it could be our sort of place.

Cinnamon Culture, Sundridge Park

Wednesday 11^th September 2013

 

Something out of the ordinary for the curry club this time as we visited the renowned Cinnamon Culture on Plaistow Lane.  Many of the club are staunch old-school curry fans.  They like no-nonsense British Indian restaurant fare;  ‘onion bhajis’,  ‘chicken korma’,  ‘tikka masala’,  -  but these are all missing from the menu in favour of ‘tamarind quail’,  ‘quillon duck’  and  ‘travancore lobster’.

I was very interested to see how this more sophisticated dining experience would go down.

Belash Tandoori, Penge

Wednesday 17th July 2013

It was the hottest day of the year so far as we made the journey to Belash Tandoori in Penge.  First impressions were that this a proper old-school place.

Homesdale Tandoori, Bromley

Wednesday 26^th June 2013

The latest curry club outing saw some new recruits make their debuts, so we were hoping for a good performance from Homesdale Tandoori in Bromley.  

The Papadom, Bickley

Wednesday 5^th June 2013

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Though reasonably close to the town centre,  Bickley isn't an area of Bromley that is especially familiar to most of the club and few of us were even aware of this restaurant, so this was definitely uncharted territory.

Yasmin Tandoori, Locks Bottom

Wednesday 20th February 2013

The new curry season got under way this week at Yasmin in Locks Bottom.  First impressions were that it is a proper curry house.  It actually had flock wallpaper.  A rare nod to the original British curry houses and definitely worth some bonus points!

The Chilli Diaries Awards 2012

In 2012 The Curry Connoisseurs of Bromley Gentlemen's Club had one mission; to scour the South London Borough's curry houses to find out just who is 'top of the poppadams'  - and finally, here are the results.

THE BIG WINNERS:

'THE CHILLI DIARIES CURRY HOUSE OF THE YEAR' 
SONARGAON, WEST WICKHAM

Sonargaon's management accept their award

The Chilli Diaries Curry House of the Year 2012 - Grand Final

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Shampan 2

Saturday 18th August 2012

After the first day of the football season had inflicted the old familiar misery on us, the CCB drowned our sorrows in Bromley before visiting Shampan 2, on Chatterton Rd.

Meet the CCB

In this blog, I often refer to 'the CCB', the group that visits all these curry houses and whose opinions the Chilli Diaries is based on.  Some of the literally several people who read the blog may wonder who these people actually are, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to introduce: ‘The Curry Connoisseurs of Bromley Gentlemen’s Club’

Tamasha Hotel and Restaurant, Bromley

Wednesday 13th June 2012

My Birthday this week gave me a chance to review what must be the poshest ‘curry house’ in Bromley, as my Missus, Sarah treated me to dinner at Tamasha.  Set in a lovely three storey Victorian house, it’s obvious very early on that this place is a few cuts above your typical Indian restaurant.  

Raj Palace, Bromley

5th May 2012

After watching the FA Cup final and necking a few ‘cheeky tequilas’ in the Swan & Mitre, the connoisseurs sauntered into this somewhat under-rated venue.  Although the menu is not what you'd call memorable, it is definitely enjoyable and  the banquet deal they have (even on Saturday nights), make it outstanding value for money.

Indian Ocean, Bromley

7^th April 2012
(Now Closed Down)

When a few of the usual suspects visited Chatterton Arms in Bromley, we had a choice between two curry houses right across the road - the celebrated ‘Shampan 2’ and the brand new ‘Indian Ocean’.  We chose the lesser known of the neighbours.

'New India', Bromley

Saturday 10th March 2012

After a day on the beers in Bromley, a few of us eventually wandered into ‘New India’.  We found a less than warm welcome. 

Tiranga, Bromley

Saturday 21st January
(Now Closed)

After a mini pub crawl in Bromley we were all worse for wear when we stumbled into Tiranga on the high street. The food was good but it must be said that the service was slow.

 

The Curry Capital of Britain

Big news! Well, it's not exactly news, it was announced over a year ago but it still warrants a mention in this blog I think.