Tim Hughes tackles a belt-busting bargain feast at a favourite curry house – now given a trendy makeover

It sounded too good to be true; so good that it demanded further investigation...

One of my favourite Indian restaurants, offering free rein of the menu for under £12. I had to find out more. So, feeling in need of a winter-warming curry pick-me-up, my curry brother, Oxford Mail snapper Ed Nix, and I found ourselves with a pair of friends on a bus to Kidlington.

It takes a lot to prise Ed away from his natural habitat of the Cowley Road, particularly when it comes to curry. Fortunately the restaurant in question was one of the best around: Ovisher.

The Ovisher’s Tuesday Banquet Night has entered local folklore among spice-fans in the northern reaches of our city. The deal allows diners to choose any starter, any main course, any side dish plus a nan or rice for just £11.99. The key word here, of course is “any”. Forget the usual limited buffet choices of tikka masala, korma and something vaguely spicy; the Ovisher has a fabulously inventive menu, and banqueters are encouraged to delve into its quirkiest corners – or even go off-piste with your own request.

To the uninitiated, Ovisher is one of Oxfordshire’s oldest Indian restaurants, originally opened by the charismatic Abdul Bari in 1981, and now managed by the Miah family (chefs Mannan and Anwar Miah and waiters Maruf and Mahfuz Miah) – relatives of Loylu Miah of Cowley Road’s acclaimed Majliss.

Curry fans will already be familiar with Mannan’s kitchen craft, the chef having served for more than 20 years at the likes of Tiffins, Karma and Jamona.

Those more familiar with this ornate-fronted eaterie may be surprised to find the place has undergone something of a transformation recently, its worn out carpet replaced by a solid oak floor, and pints of Cobra served from behind a trendy granite bar beneath cool Italian lighting. It’s all very hip. As Dorothy in The Wizard Of Oz might have remarked: “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kidlington anymore.”

Instead of picking our boring old regular choices, we left it to Muruf and Mahfuz to order for us – with the proviso that at least one dish had to be a scorcher. They were happy to oblige with some flights of fancy that, even after years of curry addiction, were new to us.

The Miahs are bit of a comedy double act; slick and professional but sharp, witty and tremendous fun. They also have impeccable taste.

After the customary popadoms, we started with the Ovisher Platter – a combination of vegetable, lamb, chicken and seafood starters piled on a groaning plate. It was unbelievably good, but also unbelievably filling. A word to the wise: don’t make our schoolboy error of peaking too early and filling up on all that crispy loveliness. Platter grazed, and another Cobra each dispatched, Maruf and Mahfuz brought over the main courses.

First to arrive was an appropriately-named Chicken Sizzling Sizzler: chicken tikka, cooked with sliced mushrooms, onions, peppers and a tingly sauce, served in a kadai dish as hot as the centre of the sun.

It was joined by a tantalising Ovisher Lamb Bahar (lamb with onion, pepper and tomato and cooked in Ovisher’s signature, and top secret, sauce); an Akbari Chicken (a mild and fruity concoction of curried chicken breast, pineapple, mango, banana, ghee, cream, almond and coconut) and – possibly best of all: Galda Chingri Masala (king prawn with green chillies in a sublime, and powerful, sauce). Served with rice and nans, that should have been enough, but it was banquet night, and rules are rules. So, we also tucked into sides of Sag Aloo (potato and spinach), Sag Panir (spinach and cheese), Bombay Aloo (spicy spuds) and Chana Masala (spiced-up chick peas).

I don’t think any of us ate again for at least a day – feeling rather like those pythons you see in nature programmes, unable to move, and sporting a large mammal-shaped hump in the midriff.

If you’re on a New Year diet, you might want to wait. If you’re tightening the belt financially, rather than gastronomically, however, get that No 2 bus to Kidlington, because you won’t eat so well for so little anywhere in town. Just one tip though: leave the choosing to Maruf. You won’t regret it – though you may need a new belt.

Ovisher
Oxford Road, Kidlington OX5 2BP 
01865 372827.
Banquet Night takes place every Tuesday.

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