Curry mark 2

Not often we go out for a drink on a Friday night, but this was a special occasion: the last working day for Nikki and her colleagues in their old offices in Northenden. They're moving to posh new offices in Cheadle Royal Business Park over the weekend and have been clearing out almost 30 years of "archives" for the last couple of weeks in preparation for the move.

First stop: the Farmers Arms. Closest pub to the old offices and hence a favourite watering hole, until a recent altercation about something and nothing made the... er... decision makers of the group decide to take their custom elsewhere. I guess they must have put their differences aside in a nod to the long years' tradition for one last night. Two rounds here and then a short walk to...

Lounge About. A rather nice bar in the middle of Northenden furnished with extremely large, old, comfy sofas. What a brilliant idea. Sadly the choice of beer was only what you might call "bar standard" - Peroni, Sagres, an IPA, an Extra Cold or two, etc, etc - but in the end it didn't matter much, as we only stayed for one. It was soon time to move on to...

Jai Kathmandu. This "famous" curry house further down Palatine Road has been made legendary by tales from many of Nikki's colleagues, so I was expecting great things. At first glance there didn't appear to be a table free but once the manager recognised Bob, a couple who had not yet been served were moved over to a smaller table, and two large tables pushed together to accommodate eight of us in style. The advantages of being a regular, I guess. Little did the manager know that this was likely to be his last visit from this particular group (even though Bob did suggest the odd trip back, possibly for a Christmas curry).

On the evidence of tonight's meal I have to say I won't be joining them for that Christmas curry. Whether because they were extraordinarily busy - they'd initially told us to come back in an hour and even after seating us it still took almost an hour to be served - or because their curries tend towards Nepalese style, I don't know, but I wasn't tempted by anything on the specials menu and having fallen back on the old standby of chicken vindaloo I was served the most insipid example of that dish I've ever eaten (and I've eaten a few). It delivered only the merest hint of the vindaloo's traditional sourness and almost none of the heat. A real disappointment after the big build up. Their Peshwari nan left a lot to be desired too. Dry, burnt, and with no discernible sultanas. Tch! Strike one!