Tumeric, Langford

After watching "Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation", myself and the lovely Brunette of My Acquaintance wandered into Langford proper for something to eat.  I was on a tight budget that day, but sharing a curry seemed like a good idea, so we walked into Tumeric on Goldstream road to see what we could get.

 The outside doesn't look very exciting, being part of a strip mall.  Glass doors, slightly faded signage in the windows and no real view inside.  Even just through the door, you are in a narrow walkway between a cashier's desk and a low wall seperating you from some of the dining area.  Once through, the space opens out, with a large area for small groups, a patio space outside, and a raised area with large bench tables for bigger family groups.

This was much more welcoming, and we got seated pretty much wherever we wanted, so we took a large solid wooden table, out of the way of the patio doors.  The weather was cooling down that weekend, and we wanted warmth and coziness.

The menu's a decent length, with plenty of options, but not trying to have every possible version of curry known to man.  We select a vegetable biryani, daal Maharani and a large plain naan.  This we got with some chai tea.

The tea was great, a warming mix of spices, served strong but with plenty of milk too. Warming, and comforting.  The daal, a creamy lentil stew, lacked a bit in flavour and texture.  It needed some bite. Either in the lentils, or the garlic, or the ginger... or something.  It wasn't bad, just not particularly inspiring.

The biryani was decent, a nice mesh of flavours in the spices, and a nice mix of vegetables.  We ordered it medium, and it had a warmth to it that was hotter than I expected, but not unpleasant.  It was just a rice dish, and not served with a vegetable curry sauce that I would often get in a british curry house.  No matter, the daal worked with it instead.

The Naan bread was excellent. It was soft and pliant, with a bit of a crisp edge to it. It wiped up the juices from the daal, and was easily big enough for us to share one with out feeling left out on the breads.

Overall, for $14 each (including a tip), this was a decent evening meal, in a nice surroundings, with plenty enough in the portions to satiate us.  They did tell us all about the buffet lunch special ($12.99), which, if out in Langford, sounds worth trying once. We had a conversation about UK curries. We talked about how butter chicken doesn't seem to be a thing over there, but the balti dish is.  The servers had never heard of the balti, Seems it is a very UK-centric style of the cuisine.

Ah well.  Compared to Amrikko's and the Sizzling Tandoor, it's not as good. But it's helping dissolve the idea I had that you can't get a decent curry in Victoria.