Eating Indian in Warsaw

When we moved to Warsaw 13 years ago, there was not much here by way of ethnic food. The past decade has seen an explosion in Vietnamese, sushi and pizza restaurants. If you were after Indian, there was the Tandoor Palace (Marszałkowska corner of Al. Armii Ludowej) and that other place we don't go to (the Maharajah). The Tandoor Palace has been there for years and years, run by Charanjit, a Sikh originally from Singapore, and an excellent venue for British expats who miss their suburban curry house. Many's the fine meal I've enjoyed here (both on business and socially).

Within the past few years, several new Indian restaurants have popped up, enhancing Warsaw's ethnic eating experience. This is so important. I discovered Indian* cuisine at university and have, as has the entire British nation, taken a great appetite for it. Chicken tikka masala is Britain's favourite dish.

There's the India Curry (ul. Żurawia 22), no longer new - I remember the opening event... six years ago? I was here a few weeks ago for a blogmeet; the atmosphere is pleasant and relaxed - not too crowded - but it is not cheap.

Earlier this year, we made two sorties across the river to newly-opened Indian restaurants - LaBono (Grochowska 224, by Rondo Wiatraczna), reasonable food, not too-heavily spiced (i.e. aimed at the Polish palate), and by comparison with left-bank Indian restaurants - cheap. The other one was Arti (Francuska 5A). A first visit (seven of us, in winter) proved wildly successful. The food was unbelievably cheap (we thought the bill would have been cheap for four!) and because there was no drinks licence, we bought wine from the Carrefour across the road. A return to Arti in May saw a drinks licence in place (so wine was double supermarket prices) and the food prices had shot up to levels normally seen in the established Indian restaurants.

Still, the food at Arti was excellent (they do vindaloo, and when it says vindaloo, they mean a real blaster. And mutton dishes). So last month I tried the original Arti, (Al. Jerozolimskie 122, between the Mexican restaurant Amigos and the 'ToiToi' buliding by Plac Zawiszy). Again, excellent Indian food, as the British would understand it, though not cheap by Warsaw (or indeed London!) standards.

So I was delighted when my good friend Chris (a British expat gone native in Warsaw) suggested a meal at the Ganesh in Ursynów (al. KEN 93, by Stokłosy Metro. There's another one on Wilcza 50/52)

[As I write I'm eating the remains of last night's meal. I'm an Indian restaurant doggy bag obsessive. Nothing gets thrown away. There was enough left over for a) breakfast for me, b) lunch for Moni and c) a final bowlful for my supper. It is rare that a restaurant critic can be writing about food at the very instant he's eating it, but such is the case.]

And excellent it is too. Delivered just the way the British palate craves. The nomenclature of dishes at the Ganesh is unusual - a keema nan is called a Kabuli nan here, and the mutton sizzler definitely did not come out of the tandoor (clay oven). [It's the little differences.] Still, it's the taste that counts, and the food here is big on taste. Mutton's on the menu. Notice: mutton, not lamb, just as in Britain one eats beef rather than veal. Killing and eating baby sheep is somehow wrong in Poland, while little baby cows are hard to swallow in England. Culture clash.

The bill was not small either (admittedly Chris and I downed nine beers between us); total came to three stoovers plus tips (ie. 30 quid a head, a lot by London standards). But then in London I'd be eating Indian at least three times a month; here it's the occasional treat.

Another good friend and fellow blogger Krzysztof tells me that Katowice already has three Indian restaurants, which suggests there's room for many more in both Warsaw and the Silesian conurbation. We ate at the Arti (above) with his cousin Paweł, who'd never eaten Indian before; the vindaloo quite defeated Krzystof, who knows his way around an Indian menu. But Paweł - who I thought would blanch at the killer heat of this dish - kept on spooning on more and more. This suggests to me that Poland is in the same situation that England was in 40 years ago. Indian food, which is exciting, exotic - addictive, almost - will catch on here too. The more restaurants open, the greater the choice, the higher the quality, the lower the prices.

Interesting too, is the nomenclature. 'India' in Polish is Indie (plural). The adjective 'Indian' is indyjsk/i/a/ie; Indian restaurant is restauracja indyjska. And yet - even in the press - an often misued adjective pertaining to India is hindusk/i/a/ie, literally 'Hindustani'.

If you are an Indian restaurateur who has chanced by this blog post - give Warsaw a try. The potential here is huge.

* 90% of 'Indian' restaurants in the UK are actually Bangladeshi-owned. To them is owed the standard British korma - curry - madras - vindaloo - phall scale of hotness. Indian restaurants have long contributed more to the British economy than the steel industry, and employed more people.