The Standard - Jericho, Oxford

It hasn’t been the greatest culinary week, but then skiing in Germany isn’t about the food. And while our Victorian relatives do most things impossibly well, cooking isn’t one of them. In fact if it wasn’t for sausages and potatoes I doubt the German population would function at all. A week of currywurst, dumplings and schnitzel left me crying out for some fresh fruit and vegetables, some variety, and anything vaguely eclectic or international.

Which is where British food comes into its own, because although we can wheel out our tourist staples of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding when required, we eat a far more rounded, exciting and varied diet than most, thanks to a wonderfully diverse population.

Oxford, above everywhere else, demonstrates this, Cowley Road for example offering every cuisine from Ethiopian to Japanese, Polish to Nepalese, Jamaican to Indonesian and everywhere in between. We couldn’t get bored if we tried.

So as soon as I returned, I booked myself straight into The Standard in Jericho, to remind myself that there is life after pork. Delivering myself straight into the safe hands of manager Kawsar Rojob Shah seemed like the best option and we let him choose us a reassuringly comforting menu until the ‘pig-gate’ trauma receded.

Kawsar worked at Branca in Oxford and Bicester Village’s Busaba before his Bangladeshi father Ali handed him and chef brother Dildar the reins in 2011. It was a sink-or-swim opportunity, because while the service and food had always been second to none, the Standard’s decor had hardly been updated since opening in 1972, and it was struggling to survive.

The Rojob brothers jumped at the chance to put their own stamp on the family business and have since turned it into a thriving little restaurant in Walton Street as other curry houses folded around them. Jamal’s went first and then Bombay up the road, proving that if you want to stay in this business, moving with the times is the only way forward.

Facing the Phoenix cinema, The Standard’s exterior is the perfect mix of the old and the new, the curtains of yesteryear having been stripped away to reveal the huge plate glass windows and enticing interior. Anyone conducting an affair might need to choose a more discreet location, but we gladly entered The Standard on this gloomy spring night and were delighted to find such a clean, spruce, gentle restaurant.

The food is equally as tempting, offering a fantastic mix of new dishes and old faithfuls. The specials board is where Dildar gets to flex his culinary muscles without changing the regular menu, the combination of which appeals to the ever-growing and loyal clientele.

We were hungry, so waded straight in, ordering the chotpoti — £4.25 — a Bangladeshi street food of egg, chick peas and potato in a coriander and tamarind sauce. The Prawn Patia Puri — £5.25 — was more elegant; enormous, tasty prawns in a sweet/sour/spicy tomato sauce.

Sat in the window seat overlooking the busy street outside it was like being in an Edward Hopper painting, watching the world going by, but not enough of a distraction to put us off our food, the starters having set us up for the meal ahead. And we didn’t hold back, feasting like Deutsche workers who hadn’t been let out of the frankfurter factory for 20 years.

And so came the Korai paneer tikka — (£6.95) with its beautiful succulent chunks of Indian cheese, one of the specials, the Goan King Prawns poached in a chilli, coconut and lime leaf sauce (£13.95 with rice) which would have had the Hansel quivering with gratitude in his lederhosen, and a good, juicy, chunky lamb saag — £8.25 — which came and went indecently fast, accompanied by a dish of Brinjal Bhaji (chargrilled smoky curried aubergine, like a Bangladeshi version of baba ghanoush) — £3.75, Aloo Gobi (potatoes and cauliflower) — £3.75, Saag Dall (spinach) — £3.75, and lots of rice and naans.

The conversation dried up at this point while we wallowed like Eric Pickles in a mud bath, revelling in the tastes and textures, heat and originality. Because, contrary to popular opinion, not all curries taste the same, and evidence of a refined hand in the kitchen kept us entranced until we wiped the last morsel of naan around our plates.

The difference? The subtlety of the sauces, the balancing of the spices, the light, fresh ingredients, the generosity of the meat, the well-cooked lamb, the silky smoothness of the Goan Prawns, the metallic creaminess of the spinach, I could go on . . .

The only desserts we could manage after that were the Cardamom Kulfi — £3.95 and Mandarin Sorbet — £3.25 whose delicate but piquant flavours were wonderfully appropriate and palate cleansing.

Yes it’s good to be back, not just to push the culinary boundaries but when nothing but curry will do, this is where my feet lead me: to The Standard, my fail-safe, reliable, consistent bolt hole. Put it this way, it may be a while before I’m back at the Big Bang.

The Standard
117 Walton Street, Jericho, OX2 6AJ
01865 553557
standardoxford.com

Opening times: Lunchtimes every day (except Fridays when
closed), 12-2.30pm. Dinner 5.30-11pm daily
Parking: There is parking on Walton Street but you have to fight for it.
Key personnel: Kawsar Rojob and chef brother Dildar
Make sure you try the... specials board which include delicacies Lamb Nihari (slow cooked lamb on the bone curry with chickpeas, £10.95); Tamarind Chicken (South Indian chicken masala in a tamarind and black pepper sauce, £9.45); Goan Fish Curry (pan fried seabass fillet in a lightly spiced tomato/ coconut sauce with rice, £12.95) or Lal Lao Chicken — on-the-bone chicken curry with pumpkin, £8.95.
In ten words: One for the little black book; filed under ‘Curry Cravings’