A good curry has to be up there as one of my favourite types of foods. I adore 'bits' - anything I can graze on where there's variety. I love Mexican and tapas for the same reason, but when push comes to shove, I'm always going for the spicy option. Scene Dining is a new Indian 'street kitchen' in Spinningfields which does just that.
I'm naturally wary of this part of town, as I often find some of the venues' Twitter accounts awash with pictures of footballers and their subsequently papped beautiful people, a sniff tiresome. In reality, I can't ever recall seeing a footballer in these parts during the day, and the only busty blonde I've been photographed with is my homie Lee, and that was a selfie! I think we're safe.
So this week the above mentioned busty one and I went to sample Scene Dining. We picked the windiest day ever, and unfortunately arrived looking a tad dishevelled. Our attentive waiter arranged a bottle of Pinot Grigio pretty sharpish, and a few fights with a brush later, it was business as usual.
Although there is the standard 'starter, main, dessert' format, we opted for the street food style dining so we could sample lots of dishes without appearing pigs of the week. However, we ordered so much food, that this happened anyway. Ah well.
Plain and spicy poppadoms with dips: Given the choice, we went for both. Great dips and plenty of them too.
Chicken tikka: Moist chicken with slightly charred edges, served with yoghurt dip.
Seekh kebab: Served slightly pink with soft onions and a coriander dip. Yes, they were as good as they look.
Gunpowder potatoes: These are definitely the new kid on the block when it comes to Indian potatoes. Whether chipped or chunked, I adore these. Just enough spice to give a subtle kick, but no harsh raw chilli powder taste.
Paneer butter massala: By far my favourite dish of the evening. A rich sauce with big chunks of creamy paneer. Team this with a cheese naan and it's a match made in heaven. Plenty of calcium for those bones...
Samosa chaat: It's genius. Samosas with chickpeas, salad and pomegranate seeds, served in a spicy poppadom. This was the dish that finished us off. Loved it.
Saffron lemon rice: Fluffy and light with a subtle zing. A perfect accompaniment to our other dishes.
Cheese kulcha: I'm a sucker for a cheese naan. If it's on the menu, I'm having it. Lee didn't even question that this was being ordered. This is the 'cheese inside' variety, which makes everything that bit tidier whilst stuffing your face.
Just look how much food that is for two girls... Our attempt at eating it all was pitiful, however a lovely waitress suggested that she could box it up for us to take home. What a legend. We sat nursing our bulging bellies, vowing we never needed to eat ever again, and remeniscing about the lovely goodies we had just eaten. Then there it was. The mention of gulab jamon, and Lee announcing that she had never tried it.
Gulab jamon: So there we were. Separate dessert stomachs engaged and powering through one of the best examples of this dish I've ever eaten. If you've never tried these, they're like syrup soaked doughnuts which have the texture of frangipan. We destroyed them.
Scene's street food menu is all about sociable eating, so go with your friends and enjoy sampling lots of different dishes, and complaining about how full you are. The staff are fantastic, the dining room is spacious and bright, and the quality of the food was just bob on.
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