by Chrissy Iley
When I used to live in Soho, take aways at least once a week would come in the form of a delicious curry from the local Golden Oven in Bateman Street. Sometimes we’d even sit in there. I’ve always found sitting in a curry restaurant strangely relaxing.
Soho has changed a lot in the last decade since I lived there. I have changed a lot. I didn’t expect that the man in the Golden Oven would be waving at us and beckoning us, telling us it was so nice to see us after all this time.
The menu had changed and he invited us to try one of the new curries with preserved lemon. All the old favourites were there too. Completely delicious and comforting.
The Golden Oven man said business was bad for curry houses and where there used to be 30 in Soho only four remained. He didn’t blame the recession he blamed hot dogs, grilled food; the new fast food pretending to be healthier, cleaner.
He didn’t blame Thai food, although they seem to still thrive, he blamed a random new consciousness that was anti spice. And he’s right. I’ve never been to Bubble Dog, but its success has created many imitators playing with the ideas of highbrow and lowbrow. Which is great as a concept but I hate hot dogs and I hate champagne. Give me a korma and a cocktail any day.
Of course curries can make you fat if you eat them every night. But there are so many spices that promote good health such as turmeric, which is anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic and anti-Alzheimers, Indian food is being rediscovered.
The Detox Kitchen do some great Indian dishes and The Low Fat Indian Vegetarian Cookbook by Mridula Baljekar is a best seller created after Mridula cooked at No 10 for the Blairs and Cherie said she was on a diet so it had to be low calorie and still delicious, thus the miracle of low calory curry was created.
The Golden Oven, 22 Bateman Street. London W1D 3AL. Tel: 020 7287 2800, Goldenoven.co.uk.