The Red Fort

Monday, October 25, 2010 - I had the samundari ratan, a seafood stew comprising scallop, king prawn, stone bass and squid, with an ingredients list that somewhat misleadingly stressed the cinnamon and cloves. In fact, the chilli was so assertively the point of the sauce that the ancillary spices didn't kick in till a few hours later. I still loved it, though...K's biryani smelled incredible when the sealed lid came off, and it took me a while to work out why: there seemed to be a sweet, almost floral whiff coming off it. The lamb was so good, the clay-pot handling made it so intense, that you could smell the sweetness of its little Welsh field.

Sunday, September 26, 2010 - Our mains, in their cute little clay pots, are exceptional. The Hyderabadi bhuna gosht (Herdwick lamb with ginger, garlic, black pepper and coriander) is dark and complexly tasty. The nalli rogan josh (lamb shank with nutmeg, cinnamon and bay leaves) apparently 'falls off the bone' and tastes pleasingly of lamb, complemented by spices. But a fiver for plain, boiled rice? Surely people only eat rice because they are too poor to afford real food? We're lucky: a larger group nearby is told that nobody may individually order rice or bread, but that the waiter will bring a selection 'for the table'.