Tallinn – Asian Wok
What else could I do in a relatively cold Tallinn on a Sunday evening in early February? After much thought, an Asian meal of some description seemed to be the most tempting and the reviews of Asian Wok were positive. They seem to cut across quite a chunk of southern Asian food, including plenty of Chinese and Indian dishes. I checked the menu on-line around fifteen seconds before going in, an advisable thing to do as the menu outside the front door has one of the smallest font sizes that I’ve ever seen. I’ve just had my eyes tested and told that I can see things up close perfectly, but my elderly friends (they know who they are) would have had one hell of a job.
I was the only customer in the restaurant when I entered, although a couple came in a little later on, but there were plenty of delivery orders going on. The service was friendly and personable, with the beer being served promptly, although the food took nearly forty minutes which seemed a little longer than I had expected. But, I was hardly in a rush.
They usually have Asian beers, but they’d run out tonight and so there was the lager from A. Le Coq, the oldest brewery in Estonia. As lagers go, it was fine, crisp and clean.
I went for the chicken madras and the curry really wasn’t particularly madras like and there was no evidence of chillies or anything with spice. I know that many Indian restaurants across mainland Europe tend to change their spice levels for the local market, but I was struggling to get any heat out of this. The restaurant uses chicken thigh meat which I accept can give more flavour and is likely more authentic, although personally I do prefer chicken breast for the texture. The menu made reference to this being at their highest spice level and mentioned that the madras came with coconut in the sauce. I’m not sure that’s always the case, but I think it would help balance the spice levels out somewhat, but it just made it even more creamy here. Having noted that, the taste wasn’t unpleasant, the rice was well cooked and the naan bread had a depth of flavour. I asked for plain naan, although I noted that half of the naan were garlic.
I did enjoy the meal, the entire bill for the curry, rice, naan and half a litre of beer came to around £15, so it was all reasonably priced and the portion sizes were generous. It’s the first time incidentally that I’ve been given a curry in a bucket like that, although it helped keep it warm given that the plate itself was cold. I think if I came again I might request that the curry be made with more spice, although it feels quite British to do that in some macho way. I think I stayed here for around two hours as I rather got distracted with my book (well, book on a phone) and the service was always personable and helpful, so I’d recommend it if asked (the restaurant, not my phone which to be honest is on its last legs).
