Indian summer (place)

The best girlfriend and I were in Dunedin this weekend to watch the premiere of Auntie and me at the wonderful Fortune Theatre, and, to continue the tradition of these weekends, wanted to have dinner at one of the South Island's best restaurants, Ombrello's but alas, unfortunately it turned out to be fully booked (stupid me for not booking in advance). So there we were, two hours before the theatre was going to start, without a place to eat. Having not eaten a decent Indian meal since leaving London a year ago, we asked the concierge of our hotel about good a decent restaurant, and low and behold, he pointed us to a true gem:

Indian Summer is a bright, well lit and spacious place with rather battered pine wood tables, seventies plastic chairs and a horrid eighties colour scheme. The service was swift, friendly and well informed: my request for an off - menu item (Methi Gosht) was met with a sympathetic ear, and the chef came around to discuss cooking arrangements. The menu was (although laminated and rather grubby) exhaustive and well explained, with a good fish and vegetarian choice. The wine list was surprisingly exhaustive and well thought out, and, much to my delight, they had the full range of Emerson's beer, including the brillant Weissbier: Perfect to accompany a fiery curry.

The food was nothing short of brillant, although the presentation was lacking as in any other indian restaurant (apart from the five star places in London where you pay 2000 pounds just for your chicken tikka): After trying out hundreds of curry houses in the UK I can with absolute resolve tell you that this was comparable with the best of Birmingham, Glasgow and London. The starters were genrous and well spiced, my Methi Gosht, the poppadums and Keema Nan were definetely freshly made: no signs of the british curry house disease of microwaved ready made sauces. Dessert was another delight, and after 3 courses for two, two Emerson's and a beautiful Sauvignon Blanc the bill came to ridiculous 90 NZ $.

My significant other now has my promise that she can take me to the theatre every weekend, as long as I get a pre-theatre dinner at Indian Summer.

Oh yes: Auntie and me was fun as well.