» Food&Drink: Eye Time
Andrew Kay samples the traditional Indian dishes at Eastern Eye
A creature of habit, that’s what I am, and my biggest habit right now is Eastern Eye on London Road. I watched what was a Pizza Hut turn into a smart new Indian restaurant with anticipation. I longed for somewhere new to have lunch, and to be perfectly honest, I am not a fan of sandwiches.
Eastern Eye opened, and I was drawn in by the promise of dosas. They were good, but what was even better was their lunchtime buffet. Sadly it didn’t last, but happily in its place came the set lunch menu starting at under £5. Now, in the local supermarket £5 buys a sandwich, an apple and a packet of crisps, and that’s if you go in with blinkers on and resist the other temptations. No, Eastern Eye was better value and better food too. I became a regular and admit to going twice most weeks.
Then, one morning, I received an email from a charming doctor, wanting to know if I had discovered a fabulous new Indian Restaurant in London Road. Of course I had: it was Eastern Eye.
Immediately I was filled with guilt. I had been eating there for months and not bothered to spread the word. The truth is, I had been having the set lunch menu and, although delicious, it had not occurred to me that it should get a review. I was also remiss in not coming back for dinner, but that is, in part, because it is right next door to my office, and you know how it is…
I agreed to meet the doctor here as he wanted to guide me through some of the more unusual dishes on the menu. I loved the idea, who wouldn’t? An expert, from India, happy to share his knowledge. We met, and we got on from the word go, with an equal passion for good cooking. I was fascinated by his knowledge of Indian regional cuisine; he leaves me at the starting gate, but I think he too was impressed by even my cursory knowledge.
“A revelation: a traditional Indian restaurant that is looking at its roots, its sourcing, and making brilliant Indian regional food”
The chef is a marvel and an expert in a wide range of regional dishes. The doctor chose the food, and we were joined by the owner. As with all countries to whom hospitality comes easily, the food started to arrive quickly.
Such delights; fabulous, and I mean fabulous chicken tikka – the sweetest and most tender I have ever tasted, and succulent too, simply oozing juices.
There were strips of paneer fried in a spicy batter and served with tamarind. I love paneer and tamarind equally and had already rooted this item on my own from the menu one greedy lunchtime.
Goujons of white fish did that marvelous thing of being devilishly spicy but retaining their flavour. And so it went on, one delight after another, with the doctor delighting in sharing every morsel.
The chef then brought out a biriani. Now biriani can be a dog of a dish. I am convinced that in some places it is merely leftovers stirred up. This was far from that: a copper dish filled with steaming rice and meat that was so fragrant. It was, in fact, the fragrant spicing that had led the doctor here. A colleague had ordered a takeaway and the aroma forced him to call and ask of the chef’s provenance. He had guessed his origins correctly and says that this biriani is the best he has had outside of Hyderabad. This is praise indeed.
We have met several times now, and it is always a feast of delights.
On one occasion he asked me what my favorite Indian dish is. Well, after tandoor-cooked lobster on a Goan beach, it is dahi Verde. He went to the kitchen and the chef prepared it for me, despite it not being on the menu. He also made me a portion to take home, and that night I sat quietly savoring every last morsel. It’s a simple dish of a lentil-based doughnut served in a bowl of cool but spiced yoghurt. The chef even makes the yoghurt and the paneer.
And the dosas, well the dosas are superb, and a meal in themselves at lunchtime. I have even had dessert here too, brilliant carrot sweets and pistachio kulfi, and in a sensible taster portion. If I lived near an Indian sweet shop I would have no teeth.
Eastern Eye is a revelation: a traditional Indian restaurant that is looking at its roots, its sourcing, and making brilliant Indian regional food at very modest prices.
It is worth going out of your way to eat at Eastern Eye, and being just that bit out of the city centre, parking is easier too.
Eastern Eye, 58 London Road, Brighton, BN1 4JE, 01273 685151, www.easterneyerestaurant.co.uk
