Currydor — Restaurant in Oxford

Currydor is family. Being Indian, we fondly call the owners, "uncle" and "aunty" - terms of endearment usually reserved for extended family members. And the simple reason that we call them so: they are indeed family. Uncle and aunty don't just feed me - they feed me from a place of love.

Apart from their genuinely compassionate hospitality, they serve the very best Punjabi food and are oh so accommodating to the needs of customers. Despite having a heavy non-vegetarian menu, they literally changed the menu to accommodate my vegetarian requests. I vividly remember loving the fragrance of the Badshahi dum pukt biryani - a meat dish - and the caring individuals uncle and aunty are, they decided to make me a vegetarian variety. It was and is and always will be sublime.

I love this place to such a great degree that when my mother came over, I brought her here to show her my family away from family. Like in many cultures, the rituals surrounding food in South Asia builds family and strengthens family. And to me, that's what the owners of Currydor do. Tucked away in west Oxford, uncle and aunty at Currydor build and strengthen family.

Food recommendations: biryani, biryani, and more biryani. halwa. the malai kofta. the sesame naan. of course, the raita. and with that, more biryani.

P.S. Please don't go for takeout if you have the opportunity. Spend some time eating, living, laughing, and celebrating at Currydor with...

Let's start with the positives: the food itself was nice - a couple of the dishes (e.g. Chicken tikka and bhindi) were outstanding - very traditional Pakistani cooking. But not worth that kind of wait and poor service. Also, note that it is bring your own booze for those who drink, which has its advantages.

Sadly the place is let down by the shockingly poor dinner last night. Our group arrived at 8pm, the waitress waited ages to take drinks orders and then even longer to bring then. We then had to ask multiple times for 20 minutes until our starter order was taken. Then the chef patron came out 20 minutes after that to reconfirm what the waitress had written down and said "okay now I'll start cooking them". So no food, not even poppadoms, until 9pm. And they flat out refused to take main course order until the starters were served, even though I asked him and the waitress a combined 6 times persistently. So main courses didn't arrive until close to 10pm. He complained that this was why they pre-order the food for large groups - yet he was the one who had taken my reservation for 8 people and mentioned nothing of the sort. When it came to paying, we simply asked him in Urdu if it had all squared up and he barked back sarcastically "well I've split the bill and done the payments as you told me to".

Warmer, more efficient service would do the...

Currydor is home away from home, not only in terms of the amazing home-cooked food but also the warm welcome we receive from the owners. Aunty and uncle have become our extended family out here at Oxford. Food at currydor is definitely made with love and care and there is no other place I would want to go to when I miss home. Would definitely recommend trying this place out, and I assure you Currydor will no doubt become your favourite Indian Restaurant.

It might a bit further away from city centre and it would be easier to just get the food deliveroo'd , but please do go in for Indian food served the Indian Dhabha way - Big plates of tasty main dishes :) This is exactly how we do it in India :P

Food recommendations: Badshahi Dum Phukt Biriyani (Chicken/ Lamb), Desi Karahi Chicken/Paneer with Sesame Naan, Tarka Daal with jeera rice (Must Try- If you ever wanna get over your home sickness- this is the cure) and the Halwa (sweet dish- a little bowl of perfect celebration). I love the mango lassi too and the truck chai tooo. Honestly every dish on the menu is really good and I had a hard time figuring out the top five of my favourites for...