Curry season is upon us again with summer creeping to its wet end, so following the crowds we headed to The Ovisher in Kidlington which is under new management.

Mr Bari and his troupe have gone and are sadly missed, but in their place is a lovely new team, the front of house run by Maruf Miah, his father and brother in the kitchen, and it’s doing a roaring trade.

Indeed, The Ovisher was heaving on Tuesday night. I’d never seen it so busy, and we eventually managed to commandeer the table usually reserved for the people waiting for their take-away, by the newly restyled bar.

Banquet night is big business it would seem, but then as it is basically half price; a starter, main, side and rice or naan costing £11.95, it’s easy to see why. And besides, I couldn’t be bothered to cook.

They’ve tarted the place up a bit, removed the famous waterfall from behind the bar, given it a lick of paint, changed the menu. But it’s nothing too startling. It’s still unmistakably The Ovisher.

There were four of us so ordering and choosing took some time, but eventually we asked for some chicken chok (Indian chicken nuggets), an onion bhaji and a wonderful prawn puree, a sort of folded Indian pancake.

All the starters came with a vibrant garlic tamarind sauce which is a speciality of the house.

Then a few favourites mixed in with some new dishes – a chicken tikka palak came with spinach, the chicken passanda boasted big generous chunks of chicken, the chicken tikka had a lovely, rich, dark, red sauce and the vegetable jalfrezi some big chillies ,although the flavour was much milder than usual.

In fact we all agreed that the spice ratio had been reduced all round, but perhaps that suits an Oxford palate?

Personally I like a bit of fire in my belly rather than ‘tourist strength’ but all-in-all, the wonderful hot buttery naans, tarka daal and lemon rice, combined to make this a feast we would remember.

So bring on the curry season, I’m ready, and for £11.95 every Tuesday at The Ovisher, you should be too, but remember to book, because you won’t be the only ones.

Ovisher, 11 - 13 Oxford Road, Kidlington OX5 2BPP 01865 372827
ovisher.co.uk