curry paste

daniel895 · Post by **daniel895** » Tue 20 Oct 2009 17:21

We don't like Asia Food Center, not only more expensive than Orchidee Thai, but produce is not as fresh. The Orchidee has cilantro fresh every day (at 60 eurocents for a very large bunch!), bok choy much fresher as well. Also, Asians own it.

The "restaurant" at the Orchidee, on the other hand, is terrible. Food sitting out all day! Inedible! Has nothing to do with Thai food, incidentally. We go to the Orchidee for the epicerie and then make the stuff ourselves.

We have not found any interesting ethnic food in the PO. Punjab no better than an ordinary curry house in UK, Konfusius not good Thai.

john · Post by **john** » Tue 20 Oct 2009 17:45

Never had any quibble about the freshness/choice/price at the Asia Center,Daniel. Not had any experience of the Orchidee though. Where is it?

There was a right old ding-dong on the forum a few weeks back re ethnic food,in which all sorts of criticisms were made of the offerings round here. My view is that for the prices asked,and limited demand,some places (konfucius to name but one) are perfectly passable,but not excellent. If you want top notch Indian/Chinese/Thai,you won't find it round here. End of.

Agree with you about Thai Sawadee (Roses) on the other thread. I did cover that in my POL review last winter.

blackduff · Post by **blackduff** » Tue 20 Oct 2009 17:50

[quote="daniel895"]We don't like Asia Food Center, not only more expensive than Orchidee Thai, but produce is not as fresh. The Orchidee has cilantro fresh every day (at 60 eurocents for a very large bunch!), bok choy much fresher as well. Also, Asians own it.

The "restaurant" at the Orchidee, on the other hand, is terrible. Food sitting out all day! Inedible! Has nothing to do with Thai food, incidentally. We go to the Orchidee for the epicerie and then make the stuff ourselves.

We have not found any interesting ethnic food in the PO. Punjab no better than an ordinary curry house in UK, Konfusius not good Thai.[/quote]

Daniel
I haven't managed to get into the two restaurants but Tchin Tchin when it was open in Collioure, you would have had a good Thai meal. The biggest problem with Tchin Tchin, it was dear. They closed the door since people wouldn't pay the price. The owner told me there are no tourists which visit his place.

So, if we want good food, we have to be ready to pay the price.

Blackduff

blackduff · Post by **blackduff** » Tue 20 Oct 2009 17:56

john wrote:Never had any quibble about the freshness/choice/price at the Asia Center,Daniel. Not had any experience of the Orchidee though. Where is it?.

It's near to the Casino market on the N9. It's almost downtown in Perpignan. It's across from the MobileHome (who will do gender benders for blocked telephones). Trying to find parking is almost impossible. I have paid a ticket from parking nearby.

Blackduff

daniel895 · Post by **daniel895** » Tue 20 Oct 2009 18:12

Yes, John, you're mention of Thai Sawardee in Roses is how we learned about it, just last week. We went down for lunch on Wednesday and sang your praises afterward. Didn't try the set lunch, ordered a la carte, perhaps excessively, as quantities were abundant: 2 starters, 2 mains, 2 beers, 2 rice, 1 pad thai, 50 euros. Could have just done mains, no pad thai, and left full and happy. Menu of the day only 9.90, looked fine from other tables which ordered it, but we wanted to sample more widely. 4 siblings run the place, two in the kitchen, two in the dining room. Nice people, speak enough English.

malcolmcooper · Post by **malcolmcooper** » Thu 25 Feb 2010 10:20

Hi, I'm looking for a shop to rent around Argeles that I want to stock with lots of favourite international foods that either we can't get here or are very overpriced.

If you know of a place to rent please let me know.

Regards,
Malcolm

mand · Post by **mand** » Fri 26 Mar 2010 20:11

I found the indian food rather expensive in Auchan an example a pack of pataks 4 mini garlic and herb naan breads that cost me £1.49 in the uk

on arriving in France the same week, i thought i would see if Auchan sold them and check out the prices they had them for €3.60

i now buy them in the UK along with poppadums and take with me they have quite a good shelf life on them.
I tend to make my own Bhajis, Pakora. samosa's and curry

but bring most of my ingriedents from the uk i didn't know there were asian shops around are their spices the real thing or like most supermarkets ok ish?.

Santiago · Post by **Santiago** » Fri 26 Mar 2010 20:31

The spices in the Asian stores are the real thing. In fact the spices in some of the supermarkets, like Auchan, are the real thing too. Auchan now has some good Oriental (are we allowed to use that word?) food now. Fresh lemongrass, beansprouts (en vrac) and coriander too. In the fopreign food aisle they have a decent Chinese/Vietnamese selection of stuff.

You should try making Naans yourself, mand. Those pre-packed things are pretty rubbish. They are a lot easier than samosas. Well, I assume they are cos I've never tried samosas!

mand · Post by **mand** » Fri 26 Mar 2010 21:01

i've never tried making Naan because i always thought they wouldn't be as good without a tandori or turn out like bricks

when i last bought corriander from Auchan it was a tiny packet to get a big bunch of it i had to go to Elizabeths fruit and veg in Argeles village...

glad to hear that Auchan are improving because the last time i looked they still didn't have much in their Indian range, might this be because the french aren't too keen on spicy food?

malcolmcooper · Post by **malcolmcooper** » Sat 27 Mar 2010 09:32

There's a recipe and video for Naan bread at my site, curryalamaison.com

Malcolm

john · Post by **john** » Sat 27 Mar 2010 09:51

Not convinced that you can make a decent Naan without a tandoor. Have tried various recipes,and they are no better than shop bought ones. Certainly,that's the view of my Bangladeshi pal,Ali, who runs 3 restaurants in Norwich!

Choice/Selection of Oriental stuff is improving here all the time,but I do not think it's a surprise that it's a lot more expensive here than in the UK. It's a supply+demand/economies of scale thing.

Santiago · Post by **Santiago** » Sat 27 Mar 2010 11:05

I've not had time to look at the video Malcolm but we make naans using yoghurt, not milk, and I think this, along with ghee (if you can find it) are the things that make it different from a pizza base.

I'm sure it's better in a Tandoor but a hot oven works fine.

Are you saying that Ali buys his naans prepackaged. That reminds me of the bad old days of English curry houses where a naan was a pitta bread!

john · Post by **john** » Sat 27 Mar 2010 11:24

Santiago wrote:.

Are you saying that Ali buys his naans prepackaged. That reminds me of the bad old days of English curry houses where a naan was a pitta bread!

No,you miss my point,Santiago. He feels that you can only make authentic ones in a tandoor. Each of his establishments has one,so he makes 'em fresh.

To be absolutely honest,a naan bread is not the major part of an Indian meal to me. I can well manage without them. Leaves all the more room for curries,bhajis,dhals ,chutneys etc!

Jenny Rhodes · Post by **Jenny Rhodes** » Sat 27 Mar 2010 17:19

Where is the Arab market in Perpignan? Please

blackduff · Post by **blackduff** » Sat 27 Mar 2010 18:30

mand wrote:
glad to hear that Auchan are improving because the last time i looked they still didn't have much in their Indian range, might this be because the french aren't too keen on spicy food?

mand
Harissa is pretty spicy hot and it's put into Couscous. Merguez is another spicy item which the French love. When you get into Dom/Tom region, the food is pretty hot.

Blackduff

Santiago · Post by **Santiago** » Sat 27 Mar 2010 19:14

Jenny Rhodes wrote:Where is the Arab market in Perpignan? Please

Do you mean the one in Place Cassanyes?

Jenny Rhodes · Post by **Jenny Rhodes** » Sat 27 Mar 2010 20:24

I don't know , it was Kate who mentioned it. I'll have a look next time I'm off the mountain.See you at your Easter "Do"

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