Curry revisited

Having made contact with a bunch of ex-colleagues last month, it appears I'm now "in with the in crowd" again, and not long after that outing I received a permanent invite to their monthly curryfest.

Mates' etiquette was at the forefront of my mind when accepting this month's invite. Left to my own devices, I wouldn't go every month, but since this was the first "non-special-event" invite, I felt it important to establish my credentials, as it were, as part of this small fraternity of curry lovers.

As it happened, the restaurant we'd used last month - Garlic Spice - was closed this evening. Unclear whether this is a temporary outage or a more permanent demise in these credit crunchy days. Either way it meant we had to choose between the other walkable options which, I was pleased to discover, numbered at least three. After a brief debate we opted for Eastern Revive, only a couple of minutes walk in the opposite direction and one which, a short Google revealed, is very well reviewed and liked by the locals. This was obvious from the moment we walked in. Not only was the place surprisingly busy for a Thursday (and also in view of the aforementioned crunch of credit) but we were welcomed fulsomely and a table large enough to accommodate the seven of us assembled before our very eyes.

Having never tried, or even heard of, Chicken Silsilla before last week when Nikki and I made an all-too-rare trip to Chorlton's marvellous Asian Fusion, I was surprised and delighted to find the same dish available here, and persuaded two of the others to join me. The meal was of equal quality to that enjoyed at Fusion, and the conversation flowed so freely we were still sitting chatting when the waiters collectively cleared their throats at 11.15.