When I first arrived in the UK I was gobsmacked by the plethora of curries available in Indian restaurants. In South Africa it’s a case of choosing between beef, lamb or chicken curry, followed by how hot you like it: mild, medium or hot. That’s it. Naturally, I got sucked in by the British curry culture.

Twice a year my parents come from South Africa to visit us and most of all Gabriel. Since Neil and I never go out it is a great excuse for my parents and I to explore the restaurants in the area. Starving for spicy food, which to Neil is a big no-no, we went to an Indian restaurant by default.

Meat Samosas

The description of the dish gives me the heebie-jeebies. What type of meat is in the samosa exactly? It gives the restaurant too much leeway to chop and change ingredients and you end up not knowing what you are eating. It left me indifferent.

Mixed Starter

The Chicken Tikka was good but the other two items, Sheek Kebab and something else mysterious, left me cold.

Salmon Tikka

As much as I enjoyed the spices dancing on my tongue I found the salmon itself tough, which sounds impossible for fish. Maybe it was old?

Chicken Tikka

Moist and tender, most enjoyable.

Onion Bhaji

By no means am I an expert on anything Bhaji but although I found it comfortably crunchy, it was too floury for my taste.

Chicken Tandoori

In contrast to the Chicken Tikka, a leg of chicken is used. After I devoured it I seriously considered ordering another one.

Naan

This big plate of hot Naan, fresh out of the oven, had my mother in a state ecstasy.

Coconut Rice

My father and I quickly followed in my mother’s footsteps when we tasted this fantastic bowl of rice. I wish I knew how to prepare it. It was amazingly sweet and the grains were covered in finely ground coconut.

Chicken Tikka Korma

Always a classic and one of my favourite items on the menu. This one didn’t disappoint either and the portion was more than generous.

Chicken Tikka Massala

My other favourite on the menu – a real crowd pleaser.

Chicken Tikka Pathia

Apparently Pathia is much the same as Dansak but sweeter and with better flavours. When I’m eating curry I tend to rationalise that I’ve blown my calories for the day and might as well go all out for the meanest, creamiest curry on the menu. The Pathia wasn’t nearly as rich as the Korma or Massala but just as flavoursome and I wouldn’t hesitate to order it again.

Chicken Tikka Balti

Like the Pathia, the Balti is also tomato-based and didn’t fail to impress.

Vegetable Curry

I really didn’t care for this vegetable curry.

Spicy Brinjal

A bit on the oily side but I loved how the aubergine simply melted in my mouth.

Spicy Mushrooms

The mushrooms were prepared more or less the same way as the aubergine and just as delicious.

Nutty Meringue Ice-Cream

It’s a shame The Khyber Pass doesn’t bother offering fresh home-made authentic Indian desserts. Instead the dessert menu shows a few items that undoubtedly directly comes out of the freezer. So there really is no point in ordering them in the first place if you can buy the equivalent at your supermarket at the fraction of the price.

Inside Nutty Meringue Ice-Cream

This was the best the dessert menu had to offer.

Pistachio Kulfi

Always trying to be different and having never tried Kulfi I tried this nutty version. Unfortunately, I wasn’t blown away and prefer traditional ice-creams. They could at least have taken it out of its plastic casing!

Irish Coffee

I heard no complaints from my mother regarding the Irish Coffee.

We visited the restaurant twice in a period of three days. Each time one of us ended up with a dickey stomach. Since we shared all the food among us, food poisoning can’t quite be the culprit but I think it’s more a case of overindulgence of the very rich foods we ordered.

The Khyber Pass
440 London Road
Westcliff-on-Sea
Essex
SS0 9LA
01702 342144 / 01702 341046