After the roast beef (never t*rk*y) excesses of Christmas Day, I’m out of the house on Boxing Day and looking for a late lunch. I desire curry, but something different from the usual BIR fare one finds is omnipresent round these parts.
Smile Grill (121 Charminster Road, Bournemouth BH8 8UH) is one of those pizza-kebab-burger-curry joints that are relatively common in many parts of the UK but the curry element is a bit of a rarity on the sunny south coast, us spice lovers having to satisfy ourselves with BIR establishments all serving variations on the usual offerings. Smile is set apart still further by being an Afghani outlet. My hopes are high.
On entry, I note a series of tables to the left, all occupied bar one. I catch the eye of one of the numerous staff and point to it, receiving an affirmative nod. The menu is laid out on an illuminated sign above the counter, and I engage what turns out to be mein host to place my simple order – lamb curry and rice. What rice? The options are pilau and “Kabul rice”. This joint is busy and while I would like to question mein host what goes on in Kabul rice I opt for pilau. Would I like bread? Oh, go on then.
Taking my seat I further observe a Tardis-like back room that seemingly swallows up all the subsequent arriving customers. The tables are bare, bar a selection of condiments that I did not investigate. Behind the counter, the various curry offerings are visible along with a rotisserie cabinet and the usual elephant’s legs.
A waiter appears with a single naan bread, a small plate of hummus and a courtesy salad. The bread is served whole and is pleasantly blistered – I sacrifice some to the hummus and find both to be enjoyable. My rice follows, studded with sultanas and embedded with strips of carrot. With that, the main event arrives.
This is most certainly not a BIR curry. Lots of small – boneless – pieces of lamb in something that is decidedly more masala than shorva. I note visible oil separating around the edges of the dish. I decide to adopt a two-pronged method of attack, digging into the masala with the bread and transporting the meat over to the larger rice plate.
The bread is both crisp and slightly chewy – perfect – and collects the masala well. The lamb is soft, not to the point of falling apart but needs minimal persuasion. The spice level is decidedly medium but is certainly enjoyable – I had not asked for any customisations so this was fine. The rice was delightful, bouncy and with a fruity twang thanks to the many sultanas.
My only gripe is that the food could have been slightly hotter, although this was not helped by my being slightly in the draught of the constantly opening-and-closing front door.
The price of this Boxing Day feed – including a Diet Coke – came to the princely sum of £11.00 which I was more than happy to hand over to mein host at the counter on departure.
Would I return? Most certainly – I want to investigate the alternative Kabul rice, and to enquire at a quieter time about the possibility of customisation. I also want to have a go at what appears to be a lamb shank biryani. A la prochâine!
