By Michael Minorgan for Curtains Up
www.globalgourmets.ca michael@globalgourmets.ca
The Curry House
The American author Ella Winter once remarked to her well known colleague and countryman Thomas Wolfe “Don’t you know you can’t go home again” and in doing so was singularily responsible for the redacted and now iconic phrase “you can’t go home” being entered into the lexicon of everyday American speech. (1)
This iconic phrase, when associated with Montreal restaurants would have a very large membership of applicable places to which one could associate it with. In these days when restaurant closings are almost as commonplace as traffic accidents it should be a sign of something rare and most assuredly something positive, when you come across a restaurant that has been thriving in Montreal’s extremely competitive restaurant scene for upwards of more than 40 years. Trust me, these deserved ones are very few in this city known for its far too often fleeting culinary prowess.
The Curry House is one of these stubborn stalwarts which, under the expert guidance and passionate supervision of its magnanimous owner/chef Ben, has been around for decades serving up some of the best and most authentic Indian food in the city.
For years it was almost hidden from view in its “below street level” location on MacKay St between Ste Catherine and de Maisonneuve Blvd. During Montreal’s more infamous ‘heyday years’ it played host to a bevy of local and international celebrities who flocked to its door, among them our infamous ‘rock star’ prime minister Pierre Trudeau and a namesake (first name only and without the knighthood attached), Sir Ben Kingsley known at the time for his Oscar winning portrayal of Ghandi who would ‘never miss sampling Ben’s curries’ on his many visits to our city.
With Ben at the helm for all these years The Curry House was not only rightly famous for its food, but it was equally renowned for the unabashed and hands on service that Ben, with his wonderful winning personality, would heap on all his clients, both famous and the not so famous. He made a point of greeting and speaking to everyone and in many cases, when he was also acting as chef, he would personally bring your food from his kitchen to your table’
I must preface this review by saying that I too considered myself among his “regulars.” So it came as no surprise to me, that on my recent visit, after a more than 5 year absence, Ben instantly recognized me at the door, brought me to the table and without asking brought me the beer I had always ordered. How often do you experience this in Montreal restaurants. When we came to order our food he completed my order with a couple of dishes I always enjoyed, completely unaided by me.
I asked Ben, why after all these years in the industry, he had decided to reopen. He was quite direct and with a wide smile said his clients had begged him to reopen. So, after taking a couple of years off to be with his daughter in Sweden and having sold his other restaurant in Ottawa, he opened this scaled down, but still homey reincarnation of The Curry House on Mackay St just below St Catherine. He says he only comes in now in the evenings and it’s something that ‘keeps him out of trouble’ and in contact with what he still loves to do… boy does it show!
Let’s get down to the food.
The menu at The Curry House is quite diversified and features a wide variety of the traditional curries he is famous for. All the curries can be served at various levels of “spicy” and there are also a number of milder curries and tandoori dishes for those less adventurous.
We started with two appetizers Onion Bhaji ($3.99) and Masala Dosa ($4.99). The onion bhaji is an ubiquitous appetizer found on almost every Indian menu in the city, but in my experience, no one makes it better than Ben. They are lighter, crispier and more flavourful than any I have tasted elsewhere. The masala dosa was new to me. It’s a pillowy Indian pancake made from a rice flour batter and lentils and cooked with a filling of potatoes, fried onions and spices. It was accompanied by a relish of coriander, sour cream and green chillies…outstanding!
Curries and their expert use of spices have always been Ben’s forte and the ones we chose certainly didn’t disappoint. We chose the Lamb Jalfrezi ($13.99) and Chicken Dhansak ($13.99) and accompanied them with a Vegetable Bhaji ($7.99), a Palao Rice ($2.99) and a tandoori baked Nan Bread ($2.99).
We requested both curries to be on the ‘spicy’ side. The lamb jalfrezi didn’t disappoint, the tender pieces of lamb were ensconced in a delicious curry sauce of onions, tomatoes and peppers full of flavour with a good hit of the requested Indian chillies…delicious! The chicken dhansak with its chunks of chicken breast in a rich and fairly hot curry sauce prepared with red lentils was equally flavourful. I only found fault with the chicken itself which was a bit tough and dry, probably due to the precooking of the chicken and it being added to the sauce to reheat at the last moment. The vegetable bhaji was a tasty medley of fresh vegetables nicely cooked in a mild curry sauce and the palao rice, a platter of fluffy basmati rice cooked with ghee (Indian butter) and spices and garnished with a festive flurry of fried onions.
Although I usually prefer beer to accompany Indian food Ben suggested I try “a good bottle of Merlot I have on hand” and at a very reasonable $24.95 it turned out to be a an excellent alternative.
We ended our meal with two servings of Gulab Jamon ($2.99), two light balls of homemade cottage cheese, milk and ghee lightly fried and served in syrup and garnished with flakes of coconut.
The service, administered largely by Ben himself, with an assist from his other waiter, was wonderful and as always made you feel as if you were dining in his home and he was cooking everything, just for you.
I’m sure, if he wanted and if time permitted, Ben and his Curry House could quite happily go on for another 40 years!
I have just one question Ben, what’s up with all the prices ending in .99? Why not just round them off, especially as the cent is no longer considered legal tender in Canada? Just asking.
Our total meal including beer, wine and taxes came to $106.00
The Curry House
1236 Mac Kay (cor St Catherine)
Tel: 514 845-0326
Hours: Mon – Fri 11:30am – 2:30pm 5pm – 10:30pm
Sat 12:00pm – 2:30pm 5:00pm – 11:00pm Sun 4:30pm – 10:00pm
Delivery through A La Carte Express
(1) Wikipedia
