Restaurants / Indian
Dhamaka – restaurant review
“Easy-going Indian” has been the vibe promised for Dhamaka, opened by the former executive chef and operations manager of Za Za Bazaar, Vinay Reddy. And on a recent Friday lunchtime, with the sun peeking out between rain showers, it delivers just that with a soundtrack of soothing sitar music and twinkly lights glowing in the windows.
Primary-coloured decor, cutlery in highlighter-green tin pots and laminated menus are more school canteen than relaxing spa, but the greeting at this new restaurant on Clare Street is friendly and the two-for-£10 cocktails are a tempting way to pass an afternoon. A lunchtime deal of a curry bowl with your choice of basmati rice, pilaf rice or naan for £6.99 also proves excellent value.
In the evenings, the curries cost between £11.25 and £12.25 and range from classic chicken korma to South Indian Chettinad lamb and Keralan prawn dish Cheeneeb Mappas. There are also biryani bowls from £9.95, meats from the tandoor oven and small plates for sharing that include barbecued chicken wings (£4.60).
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It’s a wide-ranging menu, and browsing it is vastly improved by the unusual turns of phrase. The vegetable kofta curry contains “dumplings made of love and vegetables”, while the gol grappa (also known as panipuri) are “flavour explosion bombs often challenged with binge eating”. Answers on a postcard for that one.
In the evenings, the curries at Dhamaka cost between £11.25 and £12.25
A slightly strange mix of poppadoms (“a nibble which starts Indian odyssey cocktail”) that includes a handful of prawn crackers is accompanied by a trio of dips (£2.25) including a lurid orange mango chutney and a delicious spicy pineapple creation.
The anglicised touches – the things Brits expect when they go out for an Indian – feel as if they have been bought in to make us feel at home, while the genuinely authentic aspects are perfectly balanced.
The goan fish curry is a case in point: the cod is flaky and perfectly cooked, while the sauce is so aromatic that it can be smelled coming out of the kitchen before it’s seen. Chef Jyotirmoy Patra, who previously worked at the Michelin-starred Benares in Mayfair, clearly makes an excellent curry: densely flavoured and hot enough to need a gulp of mango lassi but nothing like a sloppy takeaway that singes your tastebuds just for the hell of it. But what a handful of limp salad is doing on the plate is anyone’s guess.
Depending on which online translator you use, ‘dhamaka’ means ‘boom’, ‘blast’, ‘crash’ or ‘thud’. Whether this restaurant is going to hit Bristol’s packed food scene with a bang or a whimper remains to be seen.
Dhamaka, 15 Clare Street, Bristol, BS1 1XH
0117 929 4007
Read more: Urban Kohinoor – restaurant review
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