THE Cobra Good Curry Guide has put Aigburth's Gulshan into its UK top 100 curry houses.
Also named in the new 2013 guide are London Road's Maharaja, Childwall's Spiceways, the Akshaya in Kensington and Waterloo's Saffron, but it's the Gulshan which has been singled out for special attention.
The editor of the guide, Pat Chapman, has been fond of the Aigburth Road business for years, having witnessed Gulshan’s expansion from its early days in the mid-1980s.
VindalooHe said: “I’m delighted to include Gulshan in the Guide. It takes an enormous amount of dedication and love to maintain the standards that Gulshan has consistently achieved since I first came across this family-run business, decades ago."
The Rahman family were responsible for Liverpool's first curry house - The Kohinoor, on Commutation Row - and their "tindaloo" whose chillies were so hot they had to be ordered in a day in advance, is still muttered about among those still alive to mutter.
“The food, the ambience and the welcome all add up to a very enticing proposition for the consumer," said Mr Chapman who paid a flying visit on Monday night.
Jad Rahman, pictured top with his mum, said: “Our family are extremely proud of this award and would like to thank Mr. Chapman for considering us in the first place. For a suburban restaurant, this is a great honour."
Jad's granddad, who opened up in Liverpool in 1961, might not believe his eyes. These days the Gulshan goes in for a tapas menu and a mezzanine bar dedicated to cocktails. But we were after a good old hot and spicy curry, when we showed up earlier this week, to see if the bible was talking gospel.
The kid, with some sort of Boy-v-Food head on, immediately ordered a vindaloo (£9.30) which is only done to special request.
"Bring it on," he said, much to the concern of the (highly responsible) waiter who acquiesced but insisted the boy accompany it with a bowl of cooling raita.
Good, ripe tomatoes were the base for a lamb rogan josh (£9.30) and it was easy to see why a meeker green chicken balti, which is VERY green is the most popular dish on the menu. It's called Grassendale, innit?
Green Balti: Pureed coriander, tamarind, mint, green chillies and balti spices
This all came after some well constructed onion bhajis, tikka-marinated lamb chops (their suggestion), a fluffy, light garlic naan and crackling, dry poppadoms.
Fish is overlooked by Indian restaurant punters and the tilapa starter (£6.70), sitting on a bed of cooked down, spiced onions, and more of those tomatoes, was a stand out.
Several pints of water later the 11-year-old gave up on the vindaloo, which was good news for all of us as we weren't much looking forward to explaining ourselves to social services.
In the cold light of the next day, it took to the Confidential microwave like a lucid dream.
You're not going to get many stag parties trekking up to the Gulshan, but happen, if you're in the suburbs, you may wish to throw the car keys on the table and caution to the winds.
Scored review from 2010 here
