» River Spice Tandoori
Andrew Kay enjoys the heat at River Spice in Brighton
The value of stars should never be underestimated, a few Michelin stars can do no harm whatsoever, too few food hygiene stars and you can be staring disaster in the face. A recent local government initiative did an excellent job of highlighting food hygiene standards across the city but press coverage sensationalised the issue and one street was left battered by the experience.
Now I love Preston Street, I used to live there and many of the restaurant owners became friends. So to see it on a Thursday evening, empty, but for metaphoric tumble weed, was upsetting. Truth is that many of the restaurants achieved three stars, which in the councils own words means: “Good level of legal compliance. Only minor safety issues not addressed“. Not as bad as we might think. A few bad apples did let the side down but check it out online to see who did and did not get great ratings, it’s quite an eye opener. I bet few family kitchens would rate that highly either, take a look in your own cupboard and count the stuff that is out of date for starters.
‘‘Top marks from me for presentation and full marks from her for flavour and texture’’
River Spice did fine with three stars and I was glad to see that following their appraisal they had taken the time to leave a comment on the council website explaining what they are now doing to achieve a higher rating next time.
I had eaten there before and thoroughly enjoyed their modern take on Indian cuisine, so I was keen to see how things had progressed. Well for one thing, the place was spotless, quiet, but immaculate.
Mrs E and I found a table we liked and sat down. It was freezing outside so we desperately needed hot food, and fast. The menu is refreshingly simple with a far smaller selection of dishes than your average high street tandoori. The descriptions were easy too, in plain English.
Mrs E finally settled on saffron jumbo prawns at £5.50. Fat freshwater prawns marinated in saffron and cream, grilled over charcoal in the tandoor. Top marks from me for presentation and full marks from her for flavour and texture, firm rather than mushy, a good sign. In an act of pure indulgence I went for favourite, prawn puri at £4.25. I love the fresh taste of prawns stir-fried with chilli, coriander and garlic and served on a puri. It was excellent and once again looked good on the plate. It was however a bit too big for my appetite and I ended up feeling rather full at stage one. Still, that’s better than some measly portions that I see starting to creep back onto menus in the name of ‘style‘.
I moved onto lamb acuti, a reasonable £10.95 for a dish prepared with prime lamb in a sauce flavoured with star aniseed, fenugreek seeds coconut, cinnamon and red Goan chillies – and served with Saffron rice. It looked good, smelled wonderful and tasted amazing. I love the flavour of aniseed and here it worked very well. I also like dishes that come complete on the plate. No need for side dishes, although I did order some spinach, which was good too.
Mrs E ordered a chicken chettinad at £10.95. “I fancy something spicy“, she announced and that was exactly what she got. A dish packed with south Indian spices, again served with Saffron rice.
A glass of wine sufficed for Mrs E and I had a bottle of beer, a very big bottle. I was far too full for dessert but ordered one anyway. It came from a selection of ices, not unusual, but it was of a decent quality and certainly had the appropriate soothing effect. I would have liked the traditional sticky gulab jamun but I knew it was a sweet too far.
River Spice deserves to be fuller than this. The food is good, very good, the room smart, although I am not sure about the paintings, the service excellent and the place spotless on the night we ate there.
River Spice, 17 Preston Street, Brighton 01273 739183
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