Indian food is a guilty pleasure of mine - I am by no mean a massive fan of 'Hot N Spicy' food and it sometimes bugs the arse of me when people say things like 'Chicken Tikka, sure that's not a proper indian dish' absolute poppycock!!! Indian food does not mean that you have to pick the dish with the most wee chillies/peppers beside it - Indian food for me is all about sharing dishes, breaking bread (naan) and then deciding what you're going to pick next time!
So I was contacted by Rumour Mill PR to visit Safa Indian, located in the upstairs of Kelly's Cellars, Safa is a modern looking Indian restaurant that manages to still capture that authentic indian charm, personally I would like to see more of an Indian influence on the decor, but the colour scheme and wall art are fitting. - What first struck me was the friendliness of the staff, unaware that I was doing a blog they were very attentive and even replaced our drinks in between the starter and main which I thought was a great touch. Here's a sneak peak inside.
So the menu through up an almighty challenge for me - Starter choice! Laurie will tell you, I am the most indecisive person, I usually just stare and stare at the menu and then ask the staff to pick for me. But just a Huggies protest - I was a big boy now - and I was determined to make my own choice... I also liked this, a wee exploration into all things spice - and the use of local produce is a must for me!
After deliberating over 4 choices I did the only thing one could - "Platter for two, please" even as the words 'platter' left my mouth I started to drool, a bead of sweat hit my forehead in excitement, and then it arrived, a glorious plate of Indian treats, all waiting to be devoured - and they were, except for one item....ohhhhhhhh
Those wee Vegetable Samosas were the nicest samosas I've ever had, melt in the mouth and the chicken tikka bites were tender, juicy and packed with flavour! Now I'm a gorb, rarely do I leave food on a plate, however Laurie is a little more refined and she wasn't convinced by the goat and so our platter left us with some goat still on - I tried to eat it but I was soooo full - the platter is definitely worth the money and Laurie was impressed too "These are the best onion bhajis I've ever had" and we've had a few....
Onto the mains, we both decided to try something we had never got before, I went for Pasanda and Laurie got a Bhuna - we obviously ordered a garlic naan to share - if you don't order naan when in an indian are you even a person - not to me you aren't
As always we went half and half, so I put my rice (pilau) in the middle and put Pasanda on the left and Bhuna on the right - the Pasanda was creamy, creamier than a Korma and was loaded with crushed and flaked almonds and topped with cracked black pepper, I opted for chicken because for me you don't get chicken anywhere better than an indian restaurant. The Bhuna was a tomato based, it was beautiful but I personally would have liked a dish with more spice - maybe I'll just not bring Lauren next time. If you are a fan of Bhuna though, you can't go wrong here.
While we were eating I noticed Ali (head chef & owner) coming out to talk to some customers, friends of his I thought, but then he made his way down through the restaurant and acknowledged all the customers, a short nod, a thumbs up or a short chat, he stopped and talked to me for a brief time - I could tell he was passionate...more about this later
When I was leaving I approached Ali to ask him about the Irish Curry Awards, this is an awards ceremony organised by himself to highlight and honour the quality of indian restaurants and takeaways we have in Ireland, North and South. I was taken back by his desire to do the awards - they are there to show recognition but it's clear that Ali's main reason for the awards is to promote the good work that The Children's Heartbeat Trust do, the awards are there to raise awareness and funds for this fantastic cause and when leaving Safa I felt inspired by Ali and his generosity. I have put a link in the bottom of this blog to The Children's Heartbeat Trust so that you can see for yourself all the good work they do!
http://irishcurryawards.com/ http://www.childrensheartbeattrust.org/
