Karma 154 West Main Street, Whitburn, West Lothian, 01501 744 024 Food: Traditional and innovative Indian Price: Around £15 for two courses Wheelchair access: Yes
It is now undeniable that the curry house has become ubiquitous. From Lerwick to Berwick; from Lisbon to Brisbane - wherever you go you can be pretty sure of finding a lamb bhoona or a lentil balti. Having eaten my fill in Mumbai and Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore, it's tempting to pass myself off as a curry connoisseur, but the truth is I'm pretty happy with the local varieties. My current favourite is Shapla, an unassuming little takeaway on Edinburgh's Easter Road.
So how good does a curry have to be to make us venture into the wilds of West Lothian on a dark autumn evening? Our destination is Karma, in the little mining town of Whitburn, and since opening in 2002 it has built a remarkable reputation. It's too tempting a rumour to ignore.
At the far end of Whitburn's main street, a bland exterior and entrance offer little suggestion of exotic delights within, but this is deceptive. On crossing the threshold we arrive in a warm, comfortable brasserie space, where blond wood meets deep rich tones - amber, mushroom and vermilion - and carved Buddha heads on plinths promote a calming ambience amid the clamour of a busy restaurant. My companion and I are welcomed by a maitre d' and shown briskly to our table by enthusiastic, smartly-dressed staff. No glass comes within an inch of empty without the offer of another drink: good for business, of course, but not a trick every restaurant pulls off.
But what about the celebrated menu? There's certainly an abundance of choice - page after page of it - including such punning gems as tuna bhoona and Karma korma. Few curry restaurants offer salmon, scallops, mussels, monkfish or gumbo (a dish originating in New Orleans) but there's more than a hint here of trying to cover too many bases. Even the dreaded chicken Maryland (unheard of in Maryland, US, or, indeed, anywhere outside British curry house menus) appears under "western dishes".
But let's not knock what we haven't tried. We decide on an eclectic mixture: aubergine pakora and tandoori ribs, then chicken moonga, lamb desi, pilau rice and spicy nan bread. And for the sake of tradition, good old poppadoms with spiced onions to get the tastebuds warmed up. The pakora, tasty but fairly pricy at £4.25, is listed under "something new" in the menu, though it seems to me less of a novelty than chilli, haggis or king prawn pakora, which are also offered. Far more unusual are the tandoori ribs but they turn out to be a welcome surprise: chunky, piquant and reassuringly messy.
Lamb desi comes with the waiter's personal recommendation, cooked on the bone for tenderness and served with "desi rice" - a new addition to the menu, apparently, though its distinguishing feature is simply a good sprinkling of cumin seeds. The lamb is the meal's most impressive dish, thick, rich and punchily spiced, offset well by the rounded tanginess of the cumin. The chicken moonga is described as hot and spicy, but a more appropriate label might have been dopiaza - a well-established curry term that translates as "two onions". Plentiful onions are no bad thing, but this is bordering on excess, almost smothering the chicken and its pleasingly hot sauce. Nonetheless, it's an appealing array, and the spicy nan - given a little extra bite by the addition of chopped chillies - is another winning novelty.
On the whole, then, this voyage has been a rewarding one, though I do suspect it will be a while before I venture so far from the well-trodden roads, lined as they are with spice appeal. That said, should I ever find myself compiling a list of the best curry houses in West Lothian, Karma is assured of a prominent billing.
Andrew Burnet
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