Puris at Noori’s

Andrew Kay is thwarted by power cuts and busy pubs and ends up in Noori’s

Saturday nights are pretty sacred. I prefer to stay in rather than face the city at its busiest, but needs must. So off we went on the Number Seven bus for dinner at Thorne’s. At present Thorne’s is only open for dinner Friday and Saturday so this was our best chance. Or should have been. Sadly a power cut had blighted the North Laine and the owner was calling my mobile to explain the situation as we arrived in the blacked out street. We retired graciously, after all, what else could they do, and we made our way to Pub du Vin to meet Mr R for a recuperative drink and maybe supper.

Sadly they had room for us to enjoy a pint, but not a hope in hell of a table for dinner. Collectively we decided it would be three strikes and out and we set about deciding on where to try next. Suddenly it came to me, Nooris, just across the street.
Now Noori’s was for many years a favourite and I have very fond memories of some great meals there. Then there was a bit of a wilderness period where they were beset by disasters and somehow it fell off my radar. Now was the time to try again.
The interior is pleasantly decorated and the menu is much sharper than in the past with far fewer dishes on offer. The prices are pretty keen too, with nothing scarily expensive. So we had a table at last and a drink and a basket of poppadoms. We also had a noisy table of blokes who seemed to think that doing press-ups was appropriate behaviour for a restaurant, and had they been fitter rather than fatter we might have been inclined to agree.

The menu had many of the usual choices and a nice list of specials that are more unusual. Mr R and Mr L were surprisingly unadventurous in their choices opting for butterfly prawns. They looked fine if dull but they both really enjoyed them and liked what they thought was a decent portion. I have to agree, butterfly prawn is so often a singular dish.
I had my usual favourite of prawn puri, a fried bread topped with prawns in a fresh tomato sauce that is both sweet and sour with a nice hit of chilli. It was prettily presented and both tasty and generous in size. Mr L then chose a lamb biryani declaring that he had not had one for some time. It’s a great option as it comes as a complete meal with the vegetable curry on the side and he was more than happy with his choice. I was not surprised either as the piece of lamb I stole was tender, succulent and tasty.

Mr R hit the chef’s specials with Laal Jaal chicken which at £7.95 was very good value. Flavoured with mustard, ginger, honey, coconut, and chillies it was a lush and vibrant dish packed with big chunks of meat. I had a veggie moment and chose a paneer tikka massala.

“I love paneer, I like the sour flavour and the soft texture and the weird squeak as you bite into it.”

The cubed cheese had been marinated in spices, grilled in the tandoor and bathed in a rich sauce. I absolutely loved it. This was good old fashioned Indian restaurant cooking and I was really enjoying it.

We shared a good but rather small peshwari naan and a good and rather generous saag bahjee. Eventually the noisy boys left and there was a sense of calm and we relaxed over our pints of beer and Mr L’s bottle of house white which was refreshingly inexpensive (although not as inexpensive as the price on their website, which I assume now is out of date).So for two courses, side dishes and drinks our meal was just over £70 to which they added 10 per-cent service charge. Not bad for a very tasty meal with good service too.

On the down side the ‘facilities’ leave much to be desired. They are cramped and shabby at best and when I visited in need of a bit of a clean, not a deep clean but the sort of general tidy up required half way through a busy evening and, dare I suggest it, one populated by rather drunken lads. Other than that one gripe we all enjoyed Noori’s and having perused their cheap lunch and dinner menus, might soon return to try them out.

Noori’s, 70/71 Ship Street, Brighton, Sussex, 01273 329405/747109, www.noorisbrighton.co.uk