Balham

Our new curry crush: Rajah Rowing Team

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After our mediocre experience at the Eastern Empire, SwishJunction is most pleased to report that we’ve found a new place to satisfy our curry cravings. Enter Rajah Rowing Team. We like the unusual name, which is said to emulate the teamwork behind a rowing team and throughout our browsing-ordering-consuming experience we came to agree.

Located on Balham High Road next to Du Cane Court, the takeaway-only establishment answered the phone promptly and took my order with ease, estimating 20 minutes for our food to be ready. We opted to pick up our dinner as we live about two minutes walk (we’re not that lazy. Not yet, anyway).

Now, we were a little dubious when we heard this short turnaround time. We hadn’t ordered a great deal, nevertheless we had visions of chefs hastily microwaving leftover curry and repackaging it. There is such a thing as too quick, after all.

We arrived after 20 minutes (spent productively buying beer) to being greeted by first name, our takeaway ready. The kitchen is clear for everyone waiting to see, and we were impressed with the calm, efficient, slick operation that appeared to be in process. Our thoughts:

Chicken tikka masala: more orangey-yellow than the orange-red colours usually expected, there were plenty of small-medium chunks of tender chicken. The sauce was a little thinner than our usual masala experience, but still creamy without any graininess.

Lamb rogan: no fat on this meat whatsoever, which was surprisingly tender too. The sauce had a pleasing kick to it; simple, featuring just onions rather than any other veg, and not too thick in consistency.

Peshwari naan: everything about this was fresh, with good, equal measures of coconut and sultanas. Again, not too grainy and didn’t break into pieces when tearing off a piece.

Onion pakora: we got three (cue battles over the third one. We split it. Very noble.) medium-sized pakoras, which were crisp with minimal grease (no point in dieting when it comes to Indian takeaways but the sight of grease stains on the paper bag is enough to put anyone off). Enough content without being doughy or mushy, too.

Our order came with pappadums, raita, chutney, and, something we’ve not noticed before in takeaways, packets of wet wipes. A nice touch.

We bet you’re thinking, “but where are the pictures?”. Well, it tasted so good we ate it before thinking to photograph. Perhaps a testament to Rajah Rowing Team’s cooking. Nom.

Enq: Rajah Rowing Team, 238 Balham High Road, SW17 7AW. 020 8673 6961.

Charitable hobbies

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Aside from eating, drinking and shopping, SwishJunction likes to dabble in a hobby or two. And how pleasing that Balham and the surrounding area is able to indulge this, especially housed in our fab charity shops. This wonderful age of the internet means we can pretty much do everything and anything online but sometimes it’s nice to shut down the computer, get out in town and get social, while embracing your cultural side. We’ve not been to the following events ourselves but watch out for reviews in the future.

Oxfam on Balham High Road holds a book club once a month. The next session is 7th December at 7:30pm in their shop. The next book is The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. You don’t have to sign up and there’s no fee (but a donation or mini book spree in store would always be welcome I’m sure). Pictured are our recent Oxfam Bookshop buys – we’re busy on 7th (gotta love the Christmas social scene) but think that this is a serious contender for a weekday social night in January.

 

Trinity Hospice, also on Balham High Road, until recently held a weekly knitting group in their shop but with the departure on their manager their sessions have ceased. We’ve since found out that their Streatham Hill Branch holds a knitting session every Wednesday from 6pm-8pm for £3. Knit and pearl among like-minded locals and share and receive tips. Their stores also stock a healthy supply of wool to invest in your hobby. Admittedly SwishJunction is a seasonal knitter who is in need of a little more guidance so this sounds right up our street.

Reviewed: Eastern Empire

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Whether you’re new to Balham or not, you’ll know the small strip towards the bottom of Bedford Hill is a small hub of Indian restaurants and takeaways. Hop & Spice, Indian Room and Eastern Empire all reside there and out of the three, the latter always appears to be the quietest. In fact, more often than not, the only people in there are the waiters, loitering around waiting for custom. It’s a vicious circle of course, because no-one wants to be the only customers in a restaurant (too awkward, no atmosphere, no explanation needed really) but they’ll remain empty until someone starts eating in.

The biggest reason would appear to be that Eastern Empire isn’t licensed to supply alcohol on site so for convenience they just go next door. A friend of SwishJunction had recommended their takeaway option, arguing that their curry is just as good, if not a greater variety, so next time we met up with this friend we took the option, ordering the takeaway around an hour before Strictly was due to begin. Our friend had warned us that they’re a little slower than the average takeaway, but we figured we’d allowed enough time and that taking a little time over several curry dishes wasn’t as alarming as it turning up within around 10 minutes, which screams ‘microwave’ to us.

So we ordered. And waited. And waited.

100 minutes later… it turns up. 70 minutes in, we call. “He’s just left, he’s just gone out the door” referring to our delivery man. We live a 5 minute drive from Eastern Empire. Sure, we could have picked up the food ourselves but we shouldn’t have to; that’s the luxury of a takeaway. Besides, if we’d turned up after the advised hour we’d still have been waiting a good half an hour for our order.

The food? It was ok. It was hot, granted, fresh from the kitchen, with plenty of seasoning and flavour, but arguably not really worth the wait. Considering their competitors appear to be much more popular we suggest they need to review their system; no-one wants to wait that long for a takeaway (and contemplate eating their friend out of desperation). The issue of waiting time is tricky; no one wants a rushed dinner but long delays kill the mood, plus dishonesty – waiting an extra 40 minutes than promised – is unacceptable.

If we hear the waiting time is a little shorter we may well give Eastern Empire another go, but for the time being, their takeaway menu has been chucked in the recycling bin.

SwishJunction visits The Vintage Event

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The Vintage Event came back to town yesterday and didn’t disappoint. Dotted around the pub and taking over the upstairs room were stalls boasting items spanning several decades from the 40s right up to the 80s (how old will we all feel when the 90s eventually becomes ‘vintage’?). It’s not just clothing either; browsers could find soft furnishings and other homeware too. Everything was authentic; we got very excited when we spotted some Mary Quant hoisery. A cute extra was the Mother’s Ruin Gin & Tea room on offer; the cakes were not modest in size and the tea (naturally) served in vintage cup and saucers. As well as all this, one redeeming feature that stood out for us was the price. We find many vintage items have rather hefty (and off-putting) price tags but there was a fantastic range of prices that didn’t alienate the budget conscious. What did we get? A beautiful mini cake stand at £4.50 (from Tea-licious) and two small glass decanters for £5.

Result. There aren’t many places where you can shop and drink at the same time, after all.

(Ps really wish we’d purchased that GORGEOUS clutch on the top left of the main pic…sigh)

The Vintage Event is back at the Balham Bowls Club on 11th December, 12pm-6pm, free entry.

Reviewed: Musical Bingo comes to Balham

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It’s bingo, but not as you know it.

This Friday 18th November sees Musical Bingo make its second appearance in Balham, taking residence in the upstairs room at the Balham Bowls Club, reopened about two months ago in all its splendour (very keen on the birdcage lighting). We went to the first one there last month and we came away with a t-shirt, free dinner voucher and a hangover….

Host Jess Indeedy (really hope that’s her name, how very cool) and her hubby DJ Helix are the brains behind this classic game with a twist. Don’t expect this to be a hush-hush game with eyes down; you’re actively encouraged to dance and sing along to the tunes being belted out, running up to the stage once you’ve achieve a line/full house. We had three rounds; 80s, ‘Punch Drunk’ and dance classics. Team SwishJunction did very well indeed, scoring a dinner for two at the BBC (more on that later), a bottle of wine and a money-can’t-buy (oh alright, you can on their website, but still!) Musical Bingo t-shirt, as modelled by the lovely Liz of Balham.

Jess Indeedy’s enthusiasm becomes more infectious as the night continues and certainly works the crowd. They’re back at the BBC this Friday. Don’t miss it.

Enq. www.musical-bingo.com. Tickets: £5 online, £7 on the door.