From Bradford to Brighton, by way of Bombay – Az Raja and Kirti Patel have brought the food of the ‘curry capital’ to the South Coast. They call it Azaro Dhaba – and Tasting Britain heads down to investigate…
Rating
Cuisine
Indian (multiple regions)
Appeals To
The kind of person who is getting sick of the same stuff in takeaway curry, anyone who ever wanted to eat a Hyderabadi / Parda Biryani (it’s kinda like an Indian pie!).
Bradford people who have somehow ended up on the picturesque South Coast and who require a taste of the homeland. Foodies of the Brightonian and Hovian variety (is that even a sentence?). Adventurous, non food obsessives at a loose end in Hove…
In A Word
Spirited
From Bradford to Brighton, by way of Bombay (maybe…)
Brighton & Hove’s Azaro is what you could call ‘a little Indian outpost on the South Coast’ (now try to say that 10 times as fast as you can).
Opened back in 2014 on the former site of Italian restaurant Fellini’s, Azaro is the brainchild of Az Raja and Kirti Patel, a duo from a small village outside of Leeds, (not too far from the ‘curry capital’, Bradford).
The restaurant’s stated mission is to bring authentic ‘Desi’ food to the world, and apparently having a restaurant was, a ‘lifelong dream’ for these enterprising Non-Brightonians.
Why they chose Brighton and Hove to do it, I don’t know – possible because the competition is a little less fierce down here, and possibly because Brighton is fucking great.
A few years back, Azaro made news when Foreign Secretary William Hague said some rather nice things about their chicken tikka. They appear to have used this quote in the same way that an olympic gymnast uses a springboard.
Anyway, a Desi is an Indian person, so what I think they are getting at with ‘Desi Food’ is traditional/authentic Indian fare, and not the more Westernised stuff that a lot of us have come to associate with Indian food in the UK (and I’m not saying ‘Western curry’ is anything less for it!!).
The name? In India or Pakistan a ‘Dhaba’ is a roadside restaurant, usually found beside a road, motorway or on the outskirts of a settlement. Dhabas specialise in an Indian version of street food, and that is, to some extent the culinary approach (but not the visual aesthetic) that Azaro are getting at with this one.
The Ambiance
Azaro Dhaba is also home to Bar Dhaba, which isn’t all that big, but is located up by the entrance, which means that dropping in is an option.
As for the rest of it, the restaurant is longer than it is wide, a relatively narrow facade disguising an interior that stretches quite far back towards the kitchen and an open atrium area .
The Food & Drink
Foods at Azaro do not represent any one particular region amongst India’s many wondrous and varied cuisines, and the menu is, compared to a lot of curry places, relatively small.
Asides from the old favourites, they also have some stuff on the menu that you may not have seen in an Indian restaurant before. The first things that come to mind are the ‘Bombay Burger’ and the ‘Chicken Chettinad’ (an Azaro signature dish that originates in the Tamil Nadu region).
I am told that having Kirti heading up the kitchen also breaks the trend in commercial Indian cuisine for an environment mainly dominated by male chefs. Go go gadget gender equality.
Another thing worth remembering is a promise (sort of) that Azaro make on their website (“…if you still can’t find what your (sic) looking for then please do ask your host and we will endeavour to cook you what you want in most instances.”) – I wonder if anyone’s taken them up on that yet?
I can quite happily recommend the experience that is sharing of Azaro’s Thalis – you get the chance to try a bunch of foods you may never have had. It’s the same thing that makes tapas and meze so fun, except everything arrives simultaneously on one huge plate (this plate is called a ‘thali’)
Meat Grand Thali
It’s worth mentioning that both me and Jay were pretty hungry and, although pitched as a main, our meal here, though quite delicious, didn’t fully hit the spot when split between two folks.
This is one of Azaro’s biryanis – basmati rice, herbs, spices and chicken concealed within parda (bread) – with a side of cumin raita & masala gravy. As I said earlier, it is a little like a pie, but with bread instead of pastry as an exterior.
Chicken Hyderabadi Biryani
The Verdict
As no expert on the Indian restaurant scene in lovely Brighton & Hove, I cannot tell you how these folks compare to the competition. I can, however, say that these guys form a nice middle ground between takeaway curry and Indian fine dining (which is a thing). We discovered some things here I’ve never tried before, and were happy to see that the ‘old favourites’ were up to scratch too.
If you’re nearby, and you’re passionate about Indian food, Azaro Dhaba might be worth the trip.
The Details
115 Church Rd, Hove BN3 2AF
01273 900007