NEW to West Didsbury, Dhoop Shack is one of a number of curry houses that have finally left the 1980s behind. My Lahore, Mughli, the forthcoming posh curry palace, Malai, and established alternatives like Zouk, offer a turn from stuffy décor and ghee-slicked curries to something fresher. Think citrusy flavours, just-seared meat and dry, bright spices.
Hunks of onion and capsicum pepper cut through the thick, sweet, soy-based chilli chicken sauce. Packing a chilli-powder punch, the veg brought light and character to the soft hunks of meat.
Dhoop Shack, in particular, is offering dishes that you won’t have seen in an Indian or Pakistani restaurant before. Chilli and lime seared scallops, chapatti fresh from the griddle, duck chat with fresh orange and Mumbai-style king prawns to mention but a few.
West Didsbury is a natural home for this kind of experimentation. It’s where TV chef Simon Rimmer founded his ground-breaking vegetarian restaurant, Greens, where modern British restaurants like Rhubarb flourished before their cooking style became the status quo.
Alongside old favourites like Gurkha Grill and Great Kathmandu (radical enough in their day), this is where you’d expect the freshest North Indian cooking in town.
We got off to a promising start with a recommendation for chilli chicken (£8.50). There’s an unusual Chinese influence on the menu, evident both in this Indo-Chinese fusion dish (inspired, our waiter told us, by Delhi street food) and Szechuan prawns, typified by the use of more fresh chilli than most people will have eaten in their lifetime plus gum-numbing Szechuan pepper. A spice lover’s aphrodisiac.
We went for the chicken, the house special thali (mixed plate of curries), with the scallops to start. Vegetarian dishes like tea-flavoured chickpeas, broadbean and yoghurt curry with fenugreek leaves and pilaf rice (£8.50), paneer baigan (scrambled paneer tempered with mustard, £9.95) or green tawa kebab (asparagus, spinach, coriander and tamarind dip, £8.95) got me pretty hot under the V-neck.
Dhoop
In fact all I could think about afterwards was how much I’d like to come back with a massive group and try everything. This is the week that Bradford’s famous veggie curry house, Prashad, has brought out it’s first cookbook, so imaginative curries like these are bang on trend. Presentation was cute too with curries served in breakfast cereal-type bowls and little terrines.
Hunks of onion and capsicum pepper cut through the thick, sweet, soy-based chilli chicken sauce. Packing a chilli-powder punch, the veg brought light and character to the soft hunks of meat. It was more reminiscent of Red Chilli’s Szechuan stir-fries than anything Indian I’ve tried before. The scallops were standard (£6.95). Cummin aside, they wouldn’t have tasted out of place on the menu at modern British Choice, or at the Rose Garden next door.
We shared a delicious chapatti (£1.25), fresh off the griddle, although the poppadoms had that bend that speaks of too many hours on the sideboard. Fresh chutneys included tamarind, limey onion, mango and I got our guy to talk me through the thali (£13.95).
A classic Gujarati dish, although not exclusive to the north of India, this one contained yellow lentil samhbar (veg and lentil, pocked with mustard seeds), Punjabi chicken curry (orangey-bright citrus flavours, thick, reduced onion sauce, tender chicken) and a fresh raita of just yoghurt and cucumber.
The only ‘oily’ aspect was aloo baingan (soft potato and aubergine), slow-cooked in a softly spiced, dry style, the flavours held tight by the oil. A pop-in-the-mouth cauliflower pakora on the side was a crisp-shelled hit. With my sinuses protesting, saffron rice pudding (£3.50) was a suitable salve for dessert. It was that or the sublime-sounding chocolate and basil chocolate pudding.
The only real disappointment was the interior of the restaurants. It’s a bit like a conservatory, with some cheesy flowers in vases wrapped in sack cloth and Indian power ballards on the stereo. True to curry house form, the wine list is average including Cobra on draught. The outside is better, taking a leaf from the bistros nearby using chalk to note up specials and offers.
Dhoop
I got pretty excited when I read ‘Thali meal - £13.95!’ on the door as the only other place I’ve found a good thali in Greater Manchester is at that Good Food Guide favourite, San Minis in Ramsbottom.
Dhoop Shack isn’t as impressive as the food served there, where each dish is meticulously crafted to order. It is fresh, friendly and imaginative though. My only regret is not having ordered more.
ALL SCORED CONFIDENTIAL REVIEWS ARE IMPARTIAL.
Dhoop Shack, 198 Burton Road, West Didsbury, Manchester, M20 1LH. 0161 434 5559
Rating: 13.5/20
Food: 7.5/10
Service: 4/5
Ambience: 2/5
Dhoop
