Chicken tikka biryani at Sea Rock Club, North Finchley

Three or four months ago at the height of my homesickness for India, I called our local Indian restaurant and takeaway, Sea Rock Club  to enquire about their biryanis.

Now, it must be said that of all the Indian takeaways in our little patch of north London, Sea Rock comes up high on our list for authentic Indian food. It also possesses a characteristic that the family uses to define a “really good Indian restaurant” – It’s willing to make things off menu.

Yes, very few restaurants do this these days.

Anyway, to return to my phone call about their biryanis and my homesickness – I asked the proprietor if they had a chicken tikka biryani. He said they didn’t but sensing the utter desperation in my voice, asked if I wanted him to make me one. If I did, he said, he would chop up their chicken tikka, mix it with some gravy and make a biryani for me.

Twenty minutes later I went to the restaurant to collect my biryani and was even given free papad (or poppadams as they are called in this country) for thinking out of the box.

Sea Rock Club

The verdict?

Well, full marks for effort obviously. But it could do better on the biryanometer scale. Here’s how it scored

Rice grain separation: 4/5

Meat/Veg harmony: 2/5 (my fault partly since I asked for something that had to be put together in a hurry)

Spice blend perfection: 2/5

Potato Content: 0/5 (the husband was horrified into silence by this)

Fried Onion Finish: 5/5

Wet/dry index: Pass, the biryani was just right.

Overall Biryanometer Rating: 2.5/5 (There was a heated discussion about this over dinner just now. I wanted to give it 3/5 as I love the service but the mother and husband insisted it should be 2.5/5)

So to sum it up, the biryani is not great but the other Indian dishes there more than enough make up for this. I am and will always remain a loyal Sea Rock Club customer!