This Takeaway Tuesday comes (on a Thursday) from “The Green Chilli”, one of the longer-standing Indian restaurants in central Bangor (Dufferin Avenue), and is a takeaway I have been fairly familiar with through the years. In fact, I was even at the original opening years back, when the Mayor at the time kept referring to the then-owner Sanjay, as Sanchez. Which was kind of amusing, albeit embarrassing for all of us. I then continued to follow their series of social media blunders, like when they offered free delivery on “all orders” so pranksters kept phoning in orders of tins of Coke. Before they were called out, and went somewhat silent, after spamming promotions into serious groups and pages on their Facebook. As cultural faux pas apparently comes full circle.
I think the Green Chilli has also changed ownership a bunch of times, originally connected to the local Malayali community, but, nowadays, they have no recollection of there ever being a Sanjay or Sanchez involved. But they have always remained oddly entertaining, and this was no different on our most recent visit when the waiter insisted that customers “Touch Me!” at every table. Before pulling away and saying “Tsss… I’m hot”. In short, the Green Chilli is a likeable and unpretentious Indian Restaurant, with consistently good food, and similarly good reviews.
Order summary
So for Takeaway Tuesday (on a Thursday), we ordered a bunch of stuff between 6 of us. This includes a set meal for 2, some mixed meats and starters, and hopefully an insanely spicy curry for Fanfan. But the overall highlight of the meal was when it was delivered by some Indian lad in a comically ill-fitting suit. Which may have been a gimmick given it was also Valentine’s Day.
To satisfy 6 eaters, we needed a balance of mild and very hot dishes. So the Korma and chicken tikka were for those with tender palates, Lamb Dopiaza and Bombay Potato served a happy medium, while me and Fanfan needed something with proper heat. But we failed to find either Phaal or Vindaloo on the menu (we normally go with “extra hot” vindaloo, cooked with fresh green chillies, as there’s generally more flavour to the recipe than Phaal). So we were instead torn between asking for an “extremely hot” madras, and a couple of obscure “very hot” dishes in the “Chefs Recommendations”. The first is “Moris Moris” “cooked with a mixture of red chilli powder, green chillies, hot peppers & a combination of hot spices”. Which just sounded like all heat and no flavour. So instead we plump for the “Nagashor” “cooked with special Bangladeshi green naga chillies” which really could have used a tad more heat. But I guess we generally go over the top with the heat.
Where’s my Saag Paneer
Otherwise the order was mostly correct, only with slight issues in the Tandoori Chicken (on the bone) which I think was replaced by Chicken Tikka. Although it’s hard to know when ordering through Just-Eat given there’s no direct communication with the restaurant. Anyway, the obvious omission was in the Saag Paneer. Something I ordered as a free side option with the Tandoori Chicken, and because people always look at it as if “what the … are you eating”. Because curried spinach will never look appetizing with cottage cheese.
At the same time, it is a great dish when done proper, although you’d probably be hard-pressed to even find it on the menu in Indian Restaurants in Bangor. Because people just generally plump for the generic curry list here. So it is always a good test for authenticity with the lesser-known Indian favourites; like Channa (chickpeas), Dhal (lentils), Bhendi (okra) and Mattar (peas). Mattar (peas) Paneer (cottage cheese) being the win for me. Anyway, I wasn’t letting it slide, so I messaged through their Facebook “Where’s my Palak Paneer” and they promised to “sort me out” and it was “technical fault with Just-Eat”. They’re good lads.
The Green Chilli Bangor
While we always prefer takeaways over eating out, they do have a decent restaurant in Bangor Town Centre, pretty much opposite the main Bangor Train Station on Dufferin Avenue (as below).
32 Dufferin Avenue (0.44 km) BT20 3AA Bangor, County Down 028 9146 0030
