Kurumilagu Indian Kitchen - Halal — Restaurant in Bradford

A GEM IN BRADFORD Kurumilagu Indian Kitchen, specialising in South Indian cooking, is a much-needed eatery in Bradford, a city - which is called “The Curry Capital of Britain” yet is exclusively full of restaurants offering North Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi Cuisine only. South Indian cuisine is a world apart from these – different tastes, ingredients, spices – all somewhat unfamiliar to palates reared on meat-heavy recipes with which most Brits are acquainted.

Kurumilagu (the word means “black pepper” in Tamil, the language spoken in Tamil Nadu the capital of which used to be Madras, now called Chennai) has been open less than 2 weeks, on the mini roundabout leading to Forster Square Railway Station. We visited recently. The place was bustling, the best thing being that it was full of diners from South India (I spoke with folk from Tamil Nadu and Kerala, all enjoying their meals) which is always a sure sign that the food is not only authentic but also delicious.

We ordered Sea Bass Kokum, Chicken Chettinad Kulambu, Malabar Prawn Moilee, Hyderabadi Dum Chicken Biryani, steamed rice, fresh Parotas, Chapattis and Madras coffee and South Indian Chai. All the food had a unique and distinct flavour, with aromatic curry leaves (sweet neem), coconut, etc. The food - taste, presentation, the pots the food came in, portion size, etc., was par excellence, well beyond any laudatory adjectives. We decided there and then that this would become our regular haunt and would also the place to bring guests to. We also intend to further explore their entire menu.

Abul Kalaam the manager (with his broad smile) and the waitresses were very polite, courteous, and considerate and couldn’t do enough to look after us. We paid our compliments to the chef Durai personally; he has previously worked at the two Michelin-starred London Gymkhana, and prior to that in Switzerland and other places in Europe. Kurumilagu’s prices are very reasonable – one can savour excellent fare for an amount that will never break the bank. The décor is good, adequate for the moment, and they can cater for 40 covers at the moment, they open for lunch as well as for dinner, accept card payments, have 3 hours’ free parking in the retail park opposite, and are closed on Mondays.

We would wholeheartedly recommend this place very highly. It is an extremely rare gem that needs to be nurtured, encouraged, and given our patronage so that it does not go down the path of extinction that so many catering establishments seem to do in...

Had a superb South Indian meal last night. Google Maps Street View's photos of the area the restaurant is in are out of date; the area has been spruced up and looks fairly respectable now, so don't be put off by Google's shabby views!

The dishes we had were fabulous. My benchmark Indian restaurant plate is Tarka Dhal and this 'Double Tadka Dal' was the best I've ever had. Very fully flavoured and with pretty cherry tomatoes for garnish. We shared this as a starter, with a serving of the marvellous, stringy parota bread.

One of our mains was a very attractive Saag Makkai, (not listed on the online menu, as far as I could see) served in an oval dish, with concentric rings of cream, alternating with vivid green spinach, which was mixed with sweetcorn kernels. Spiced appealingly with cumin and garlic. Not chilli hot.

The other main dish was a phenomenally delicious Sea Bass Kokum, in the Mangalore style, with fenugreek seasoning. The fish fillet came in an iron dish, sitting in a rich and spicy hot tomato based sauce. Generous amount of fish; cut into chunks, so hard to tell, but seemed like more than one whole fish contributed to the serving.

The meal was finished off with: a gorgeous, creamy Payasam, made with nuts, semolina and fine vermicelli; a Gulab Jamun, a few 2cm diameter, dark brown dough balls in a syrup sauce; chai spiced tea and an aromatic South...

Lovely Indian cuisine. Wonderful cuisine, excellent service, very nice place.

On a whim I wanted to try their Buffalo chicken wings; not something I'd expect to see on menu at an Indian restaurant! The wings were perfectly cooked and the sauce was delicious; it had its own Indian spin on it, but also tasted much closer to Buffalo sauce (that I know back home) than certain giant chain chicken places I've recently been to.

The fresh parota was crisp along the edges, soft in the inside, and perfect for me to mop up the remaining Buffalo sauce I had left.

But I must absolutely rave about the Dum Lamb Biryani. The lamb was perfectly tender (and deboned, thank goodness!! I don't care for the places that leave the bones on the pieces), the rice excellently seasoned (also nice and soft -- some places leave large bits of hard coriander seed or something), and nicely portioned. I carried half of it as a takeaway after enjoying everything else, and enjoyed it just as much later on in my evening.

The staff was not only very helpful to me but also quite assisting with a group of lads across from me, who had seemed a little newer to Indian cuisine. I would surely return just to ask for some recommendations.

I've been told a few times that Bradford is the place to get an amazing curry and man, they weren't kidding. Highly recommended, no matter where...