The Silver Fox and I have recently had a wee bit of a curry revival, and so far have been rather impressed with the standard we’ve tried. A few weeks back we headed towards the South-side for dinner at Voujon. It was one of the first nights that you could feel winter was on its way, so entering Voujon’s warmly lit dining room was a welcome feeling indeed.
They’ve been around for nearly five years, on a stretch of road that carries on up to B&B alley, so despite being somewhat out of the city centre, it’s pretty obvious there’s a nearby market. The first impression of the decor is distinctly that of a modern restaurant, and the Silver Fox uttered a respectful ‘verrrry nice….’ as we were shown our linen-clad table. Oak panelling, leather chairs, pricey cutlery and white china, all just the right side of snazzy.
It all set the tone for a ‘different to your usual curry house’ vibe, as did my choice of a bottle of Tasmanian Pinot Gris from the excellent wine list. This bottle of Lalla Gully white was to be the ideal wine to go with the forthcoming meal’s mild spices.
Try as you may, I defy anyone to go to an Indian (or more specifically in this case, Bengali) restaurant and resist ordering poppadums and chutneys as a pre-starter starter. Despite the lure of these poppadums, I am a bit of a home-knitted food reviewer, and have my quirks. One of them is fear of heartburn, and as such have had a pathological avoidance of the ‘ubiquitous’ onion salad over the years. On this occasion, the Silver Fox assured me that the onions were sweet – no , really sweet- and that I would be missing out on part of the experience if I didn’t at least ‘try’ them. Well, dang, was he right or what? The crunchy light bites were delicious, genuinely sweet with its white onions. I figured if I was going to get heartburn, I might as well enjoy the stuff. I rapidly scoffed more than my fair share, and this was noted by the v. helpful waiter who promptly replaced the emptied dish.
Next up, the starters arrived and I was eager to get tucked in to my vegetarian option of dahl puri, which were little half-moon pancakes stuffed with lentils and herbs. The crisp little parcels had a delicate flavour of cardamom . I can’t remember having seen these on a menu before and will definitely look out for them again. The dish came with a fairly generic salad garnish, but it didn’t detract from the impression of the actual cooking. On the other side of the table, the fella got tucked in to his selection of mixed kebabs. If a vanishing act is the sincerest form of flattery, then the rapid elimination of each of the meaty (and one fish) bites was a good sign that he was enjoying things too.
After our starters, we were offered a wee ‘breather’ of a break before the mains were served, and this was a really nice touch, not to mention a good idea. I’d munched all of those onions, remember? It had actually been pretty tricky trying to choose two main courses from the selection of around forty. However, we did finally manage to make a pick and went for the pathia chicken (another new one for me) and that ol classic the lamb passanda.
The lamb dish had a thick sauce that was pure buttery heaven, a few almonds and fresh coriander were a nice garnish and just a wee punt of spiciness at the end of each bite saved it from being too mild. I absolutely loved the pathia, which had a sweety-sour kind of flavour, The sauce was had a good tang, again more coriander flavours and almost a fruitiness hat might have been from tomatoes? I need to find out how to cook this – the flavours are intense, and that Pinot Gris really worked well with the dish. The chicken was tender,but in all honesty didn’t bring anything other than texture to the dish which didn’t matter as the sauce was pretty special.. As would be expected of a restaurant of this calibre, the pilau rice was fluffy, as was the irresistible peshwari naan bread.
Before heading off, we took at peek at Voujon’s great little private dining room, which is situated at the back of the restaurant. With seating for around 20 people, it looked like it would make a great cosy spot for a family get-together, or a more civilised option and something different to the usual for a work crimbo dinner.
It’s probably best not to think about how many calories I’d consumed during this feast, but parting words of ‘first class’ were necessary compliment to this great little place.
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