Sometimes, when you want a curry, nothing else will do. Which is why on a wet, windy, cold night, you could find us trekking to Jericho, headed for one of Oxford’s oldest curry houses The Standard.
Situated just over the road from the Phoenix Picturehouse, it has reigned supreme for 52 years, Kawsar Shah taking it over from his father.
52 years in the business when so many of its competitors have closed is quite something, considering the entire Cowley Road used to be full of Indian restaurants. But times change, food trends move on, and the public want different things.
And while curry houses are still synonymous with towns and villages, in city centres they are few and far between. And yet The Standard has survived for a reason and deserves massive kudos for doing so.
Surprisingly intimate inside, The Standard‘s plate glass window framing Jericho outside, the majority of the customers obviously regulars in the full restaurant.
In terms of ordering we decided to mix it up a bit with dishes new and old, kicking off with the onion bhajis in a chickpea batter (£6.50), which came as round balls, no stodgy, powdery offering here but fragrant and light.
The popadoms were also exceptional, really setting the tone for the standards here (no pun intended); light, crispy, hot, fresh, we all agreed that getting the basics right makes a massive difference.
The same could be said of the garlic naan, bouncy with just the right pull, deliciously oily, dripping with garlic and herbs, charred, more, more, more.
But on to the curries, the main event. A lamb madras, chicken madras, chicken rogan josh, chicken tikka masala, brilliant value at £11-£12 each and really fresh and zinging. No old veg chucked in for good measure here, the quality of the ingredients and the meat evident.
‘the whole banquet came to £35 a head with lots of beers thrown in, such good value, considering how much food we enjoyed’
The Rajasthani dhal was piquant and almost creamy in texture, the sag aloo rich in spinach and oily potatoes. Heaven.
But to mix things up a bit we veered off piste with a few new dishes. The paneer tikka zalfreyzi was thick with sauce and flavour with just the right bite of the mild cheese, then the tamarind and black pepper chicken, plus a south Indian-style chicken masala in a coconut, fennel seed and black pepper sauce and the chicken patia – a slightly spicy curry with garlic, coconut, lime and chilli full of zest and warmth.
Throw in the cabbage thoran (cabbage, green beans, coconut, cashew, mustard seed and curry leaves) to break things up a bit, and the whole banquet came to £35 a head with lots of beers thrown in, such good value, considering how much food we enjoyed.
What a discerning evening! And while The Standard isn’t ground-breaking it holds its own against all the new kids on the block emerging in Oxford city centre. Why? Because it does what it does brilliantly because they care.
So if it’s quality you’re after, you’ll get it at The Standard. It’s called that for a reason.
The Standard is at 117 Walton Street, Oxford, OX2 6AJ. https://www.standardoxford.com
