Café Spice, Lee-on-the-Solent
Café Spice, an Indian restaurant in Lee-on-the-Solent, occupies the site of what was Peter's Café on Pier Street near the beach.
The spicy dcor is one of traditional Indian restaurant rather than the ultra, somewhat- over-the-top modern type springing up in Portsmouth and elsewhere. Here you will see ersatz wooden cherrywood panelling surrounds the small rectangular restaurant. White tablecloths and napkins are the order of the day plus beguiling Indian music. Well, I like it – a lot.
You will find the usual Indian suspects here, Balti; Biriani; Dansak (sweet, sour, hot, with lentils); Pathia (sweet, sour, hot with onions and tomatoes); Dupiaza (medium with onion, diced peppers and herbs); Rogan (tomato puree, garlic and fresh tomato); Korma (mild, cream, slightly sweet, with coconut); Madras (fairly hot) and Bhuna (well spiced with onion, tomato and coriander) dishes rubbing shoulders with tandoori ones.
You'll also encounter first courses such as lamb tikka, chicken pakora, king prawn butterfly or that old colonial reprobate, mulligatawny soup. Chefs' specials look far more characterful than the run-of-the-mill dishes on the menu, shahi chicken or lamb cooked with king prawns and minced meat, hasht Nager, chicken or lamb again with coconut, ground almonds and a creamy sauce.
Lahari Karai, a Punjabi dish of meat cooked on a skewer in the tandoor oven, is finished off with a medium-spiced sauce. There is no beef in accordance to some Hindu beliefs, but allowances are made for English tastes.
Samosas, those little flaky pastry snacks known from Egypt to China in differing guises, are served here. The equally Indian staple, chat, comes in either meat or vegetable form.
Mine, filled with peas, potatoes and spices, were some of the best examples I have eaten anywhere. Too often they are lacklustre with poor pastry, the filling the precise opposite of the word. Here they were light, bright, invigorating morsels of such moreish quality that I nearly ordered more for my next course. A dull salad with it could have been omitted, my one and only criticism.
Malai lamb followed, the tandoored red-stained lamb bathed in a fabulous mild yet richly herb and spice-endowed sauce. Chana dall was equally fine, the mixed lentil and chickpea combo with added onion and herbs. It zinged with freshness and, indeed, I could hear my dishes being assembled close to the bar. No microwave heating up here.
My young baseball-capped waiter understood the art of hospitality, his service top notch and caring. .
Was the road to Lee-on-the-Solent worth the detour? Is there a shining example to be found at the foot of the Solent rainbow? Without a doubt Caf Spice knows its onions. Pioneering it is not. But the owners know their clientele and tell it as it is. My bill came to just over 15 for two courses and a small Kingfisher beer.
Caf Spice, 14 Pier Street, Lee-on-the-Solent. (023) 9255 0770
Open: Seven days a week from 12pm–2pm and 5.30pm to 11.30 pm
Food: ****
Service: ****
Atmosphere: ****
Disabled access: yes
How to get there: From Fareham follow the signs to Lee, turning right down Broom Way which morphs into Manor Way and finally into Pier Street. The restaurant is on the right just before Marine Parade. Parking on-street or on the seafront.
Dineers' View
Denise Appleton and Sim Murphy of Lee: 'We've been coming here for over a year and just love the good pricing of the menu and the balti or tandoori dishes. Tandoori king prawn is my favourite,' said Denise. 'The area doesn't have a big choice of places to go to, but this is the best Indian we've found,' Sim added.
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Wednesday 08 February 2012
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