Aagrah, York Road (A64), Steeton, Tadcaster

11:08am Saturday 12th July 2008

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Peter Martini counts his way down to a meal at a popular curry house on the A64.

IT Was one of those wet, miserable summer nights we get all too often.

Luisa was fed up of decorating and needed a pick-me-up, and I was fed up nobody had witnessed my getting the conundrum on Countdown and didn’t know whether to celebrate or not.

Is there a better excuse than that to go out for a meal to brighten up an otherwise mundane Tuesday night?

Well, there probably is, but we thought there wasn’t, and decided a curry was in order, so headed to Aagrah, on the A64 between York and Tadcaster.

I don’t know what everyone else’s excuse was, but when we arrived at 7.30pm, there were 15 cars in the car park, and 15 of 18 tables in the main dining room taken.

Maybe their excuse was simply to try the place, given the family-run Kashmiri cuisine chain had won awards aplenty, as shown by framed cuttings and certificates adorning the walls.

Maybe they too had got the conundrum and wanted to celebrate (if anyone’s interested, it was RIHURBASH – the answer’s below). Either way, it was a good sign that an out-of-town establishment could be so full midweek.

We were offered seats in the roomy reception area and ordered pints of Indian lagers Kingfisher and Lal Toofan (£6 total) while perusing the menu.

It was pretty extensive and, as a sometime proof reader, I was pleasantly surprised to not notice any spelling errors (proof readers will understand where I’m coming from). Would such attention to detail be replicated in the food?

We gave our orders and, after a short wait, were taken to a table by a window, not far from the big chandelier in the centre of the room.

The four popadums (£2.80) came immediately, with a standard but better-than-average pickle tray, though we had to ask for lime pickle.

We were content with the way things were going, but while only half-way through the popadums, our starter arrived.

Give us a chance, I thought. But there was no rush really. We had chosen, from no fewer than 30 starters, the Aagrah special seafood mix for two (£9.95), with its king prawn tikka, Dhoowan machli, Lahorie machli and fish kebabs. It was still sizzling by the time the popadums were finished, and there was plenty of it.

My favourites were the machli (marinated white fish), though I was pleased it all came with a seafood dip, as that prevented it all from being too dry.

By this time the lagers had gone – they’d been needed to dampen the hot tastes – and it was then my heart sank as I realised we should have travelled by bus, not car.

Aagrah might be out of town, but it’s only half an hour from York centre on the Coastliner bus to Leeds – with a bus stop virtually outside.

I’d drawn the short straw, so stuck to a shandy (bah!), while Luisa had another Kingfisher. The drinks arrived about the same time as the main meals.

Aagrah’s menus comprise 15 house specialities (most with a choice of meats/fish), 20 chef’s specialities, 21 vegetarian options, and ten from the “exclusive” grilled and tawa cooking list.

Additionally, there were set meals for four or six people, and specialities that can be ordered in advance, such as whole stuffed lamb for a party of 15 or more, at £210. I’d like to try that if only I could find 14 friends.

All the dishes have hotness ratings of between one and five chillies. There are also asterisks next to those ordered by Bollywood stars who had visited one of Aagrah’s several restaurants across Yorkshire.

I trusted their judgement and, in the mood for fish, chose the Mumbai machli (£10.50) (three chillies), which is monkfish with onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, crushed red chillies and mumbai masalas. Described as “unique”, it was indeed tasty, with a nice kick which did not overpower the fish flavours. It was complemented by peas pilau (£2.90). Lou chose the saag aloo paneer balti (£6.95) (two chillies), which was spinach (sag) and potato (aloo) with Kashmiri- style cured cheese (paneer), with a chapatti (70p). It was good, though the paneer could have been crispier.

Neither of us could finish our mains, probably because the starter was substantial, but the kindly waiters offered to bag it up for us to take home for breakfast.

We still needed something to freshen the palette, though. There were the usual kulfi and ice-cream desserts, but Lou tried something different, Aagrah’s mango mousse, served very chilled, with a raspberry couli. She delighted in it. I was boring and had plain lassi (yoghurt and milk mix), so boring I even ignored the sweet/mango/salty varieties. It did its job.

These came to £4.85, taking the total to £50.65, which isn’t bad for a place with a proven track record where you aren’t likely to go wrong.

The benefits of driving there then became apparent as we took the scenic route home, and saw a barn owl fly above the car. Splendid.

By the way, the conundrum was HAIRBRUSH.

* Aagrah, York Road (A64), Steeton, Tadcaster. Tel: 01937 530888.

* Pete visited on Tuesday, July 8, 2008.

Fact file

Food: good.

Service: friendly.

Value: good.

Ambience: fine.

Disabled toilets: Yes