There’s a quote on the front cover of Sumayya Usmani’s book, Summers Under the Tamarind Tree: Recipes and memories from Pakistan, from Madhur Jaffrey that states simply that “this book is a treasure”. It’s placed front and centre, right at the top, a badge of some considerable honour. It’s difficult to comprehend the thrill Usmani [...]
Bradford is rightly famous for it’s Asian restaurants. There are some very, very good places, ranging from the ambitious restaurant groups like the Aagrah or the Mumtaz, right through to tiny back street cafes. Some are outstanding, cooking exceptional food, but – whisper this very quietly – some are terrible, serving little more than vaguely [...]
The korma. The curry for people who don’t like curry. Normally bland, tasteless and swimming in cream, the average Asian restaurant korma is as far away from the real deal as it’s possible to get. I’d hesitate to say that the humble korma is the most abused of the curry house staples – that honour [...]
Around West Yorkshire, there are a couple of really very successful Asian restaurant empires. The Mumtaz group are one of them, with two restaurants – a huge place in Bradford and an impressive new dining room on Clarence Dock in Leeds – and a reputation for first rate food. Their bold claim to be ‘world [...]
Arabica is a small cafe-style restaurant tucked into a basement in Bradford’s student-ville, just across from the University. It’s been open for about eighteen months, and I’ve heard a lot of whispers and rumours about this new, fantastic middle eastern place. Arabica’s is one of those names that seems to have cropped up in too [...]