With a claim on their website and all promotional material that Ashok’s is a restaurant offering authentic Indian cuisine, I was slightly sceptical… but after an evening there with Irish Sarah and Can-Indian M, I was head over heels in foodlove!
“I come from a small fishing village where the ocean hypnotizes, where silence is light until the magical sunset, when the whole horizon blazes, bowing slightly to the pink sand beach. That’s this spirit that I tried to re-live and share with you in my restaurants. I hope you will find the pleasure of tasting, discovery and disorientation.
With pleasure to serve you, Ashok Alexander John“
Arriving at the Ixelles branch (as there are 2 restaurants (the other is in Jurbise)) promptly at 7pm… had us met at the door with the one and only waiter who was in the process of unlocking and opening up! Perfect English had us at ease and we were offered any seat in the house!
We settled down at a table near the door and with a window view (this proved to be very entertaining – and if you really want some stories – remind me to tell you about the woman who couldn’t parallel park – not even with 3 men in the car!) and given some snacks to nibble on while perusing the menu!
The Interior is warm and inviting and as I sipped my beer and closed my eyes – I felt as if I could have easily been transported into another world!
M had been given the task of choosing for us… with her Indian heritage, we figured she would be able to aptly gauge the amount of heat we could handle plus seek out the best choices! And with a little help from our waiter… this is exactly what we got!
We ordered – Nan bread, Pudhina Paratha (layered bread with mint and coriander), plain rice and Vegetable pullav (basmati rice mixed with veggies which I have to say I adored… especially since it was so beautifully spiced and had a perfectly balanced kick!). The 3 curries that we choose were Chicken Varattiyathu (chicken fried in onion and special spices from Kerala), Mutton Curry Kerala style (with ginger and tomato in a creamy sauce) and Aloo Mutter (Potato and pea curry). All of these were marginally hot but without being uncomfortable… perfectly balanced!!!
Can I just re-iterate….. YUM!!!
As you can see from the dishes above… there was a lot for the 3 of us… and we probably only finished half of it! The rest was packaged up and M took it home as leftovers. The joy of this place is that they also do Take-away’s which I am really looking forward to exploring in the near future!!!
And of course – to end the evening off, we had a look at their dessert menu… not because we were still hungry but because it was the most novel idea (excuse the pun). They had taken an Indian comic and used this to house the Dessert/Coffee menu!
how clever is this????
How smart is this???
menu’s inside!
Would I go back! WITHOUT A DOUBT!! In fact – I am already looking at my diary to see when I can get a BIG group of people together in order to order in a mountain of take-aways! (Or sit there!)
Ashok’s – Authentic Indian Cuisine
Address: 192 Chaussée de Vleurgat, 1050, Brussels
Telephone: +32 2 644 3411
Opening hours: Open for Lunch & Dinner: Monday-Friday and Saturday Dinner from 7pm onwards.
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