Gold Standard

AS cultured types, with a fondness for fine dining, we have long been fans of the bar and restaurant-saturated area of the city, known since time immemorial as Jericho.

But in our years of meandering between restaurants, pubs and cafes, one place had remained off the map.

Occupying a prime location in the heart of Walton Street – opposite the Phoenix Picture House, Jericho Tavern and Jude the Obscure, The Standard Tandoori was, for too long, the culinary equivalent of Arabia’s Empty Quarter. Sure, it looked the part; its Taj-style windows reminiscent of a down-at-heel Moghul pavilion, towed across the ocean and dumped in a suburban street. But it just looked a bit, well... drab. For a start, you couldn’t actually see through those exotic windows, and though the food was reputed to be good, I never met anyone who had ventured inside – save to pick up a takeaway.

So, imagine my delight when my Curry Brother Ed informed me that The Standard had not just been refurbished, but was practically a different place altogether.

He had, it seems, been tipped off by a friend, a strapping Jericho gardener with a hearty appetite and a passion for the spicy stuff, and had gone down to check it out for himself.

It was, word had it, pretty darn good. Cool, funky and very friendly. I would, he insisted, be convinced that a new curry house had opened in its place.

Curious, if sceptical, I agreed to meet them both, and see for myself.

I knew something had changed when I walked straight past it, missing it entirely. Gone were the elaborate windows and the dark interior. In its place was clean plate glass, casting new light on a bright, modern interior.

Ed and the gardener were right. Hip and uncluttered, its defining feature is straight out of the 1970s – a multi-coloured ceiling light so disco-tastic it would throw the remaining Bee Gees into a fit of strutting and finger-pointing.

It was, apparently, always there... it’s just that most people hadn’t noticed.

The facelift was the brainchild of cheerful young manager Kawsar Shah, whose family have run the place for years.

And, while it might look new, it’s not. It is still, at heart, an old-fashioned curry house, majoring on all the favourites. Cheap and cheerful, there’s nothing too fancy and elaborate – just good, tasty Bangaldeshi food designed to leave you grinning like a satisfied sultan.

So, over a couple of rounds of good Bangla beer (it always surprises me why more places don’t do this zingy, non-fizzy brew) we let Kawsar and his chefs do what they do best.

Starting with the customary popadoms, we moved on to a mix of the new and familiar, with pakoras, onion bhajis and a new one, chotpoti – chickpea, egg and potato in a smooth yet zippy tamarind and coriander sauce, which is, unsurprisingly, a very popular Bengali street food.

Next came a very tasty prawn patia – generous on the seafood and with just the right amount of tangy tamarind to compliment the sweetness and chilli heat, as did a smooth, lamb dansak, rich in garlic and fenugreek; and, by Ed’s special request, a chicken rogon which proved so popular it sparked off a Pirates of the Caribbean-style clash of steel, as all three of us duelled with spoons for the last of that lovely tomatoey sauce. The best, though, was the palak paneer – dry cubes of cheese in creamy spinach. A favourite on the Subcontinent, it is simple, but highly effective in its ability to throw a table of garrulous mates into silently nodding appreciation.

It was all pretty perfect with mushroom and pilau rice and a chapati each.

“We put the emphasis on classic dishes,” says a smiling Kawsar. “We know what people like, and we do it well. We’ve obviously been here for a long time, but a lot of people didn’t know how good we were. Now we’ve opened it all up to the street, everyone can see us. And lots of them are coming in and love what we are doing.”

And, as the place at last, becomes Jericho’s hottest eatery, they are going back again and again, drawn in by the pull of superlative curry. We certainly are, because, believe us, the only thing ‘standard’ about this place is its name.

* The Standard is at 117 Walton Street, Oxford. Call 01865 553557.

Prices from £12 for a classic prawn or chicken curry with a special rice and chapati. Starters from £4.

Express lunch menu £6.95