Sway Away...for the 2017 OCC HK CHOTY
The Oakham Curry Club (OCC) is a well-respected Institution with multiple international franchises. The OCC takes pride in searching out the finest Indian Restaurants, and providing an impartial review of Curry Houses all over the world. Members vote anonymously on 5 categories - and an average score is given to each restaurant we review. On Friday 10 November, the OCC Hong Kong branch returned to Koh-i-noor for the second time in 2017. This time to award the prestigious OCC CHOTY 2017 (Curry House of the Year) to Koh-i-noor based on a meeting earlier in the year when this fine establishment was awarded an incredible overall rating from the OCC members of 8.3. For full disclosure the scores from the previous meet are below (ranked out of 10). Quality: 8.5 Value: 7.6 Service: 9.1 Customer Care: 9.25 Atmosphere: 7.0 Total: 8.3 Prior to this visit and the award of the CHOTY, there was some debate from those not in attendance at the previous "meet" to Koh-i-Noor as to the validity of the choice for the CHOTY award, as there was a relatively small sample size from the previous meet when the score was awarded. Those OCC members not in attendance at the previous meet (both those with authorized & unauthorized absences ) were however very quickly reassured that the CHOTY was going to be in good hands when upon arrival, we were welcomed by 4 staff, big smiles, and more importantly, a round of kingfisher even before we had sat down. 2 types of poppadoms and a tasty pickle tray quickly followed as well as another round of kingfishers and the incredible 9.25 rating of customer care and 9.1 service rating were justified and the members could relax. Unlike other OCC meets where - to ensure the integrity and validity of the vote – there shall be “no swaying” such as mentions of “good food” or “bad service”, on the CHOTY award night members are allowed to SWAY AWAY, SWAY AWAY, SWAY AWAY, and the OCC members gladly did so. “Great service” was mentioned as well as “awesome poppadoms”. We had only just begun. A selection of perfect samosas quickly followed as did plates of delicious chicken tikka & onion bhajis. The orders for mains went in and the famous house specials chicken tikka masala, lamb rogan josh and chicken vindaloo arrived shortly after. By this time the Kingfishers were flying down and there was an incredible amount of swaying. While the majority of the members were tucking into the spicy, tasty vindaloo, those with less ars***le such as our own Vice Chairman who is more into “latin vibes” than a curry it seems nowadays was struggling to handle it. The OCC in general love a spicy sauce and this was definitely spicy. As the members were devouring the tasty curry, the attentive staff quickly realized there was not going to be enough food for such curry enthusiasts, and quickly suggested an extra lamb dish which again was incredible..time to sway away, sway away, sway away. We presented the CHOTY award to our gracious hosts and the only downside was a local old guy in the building who seemed to be unhappy at the noise being made. We assumed he was upset because of jealousy of the CHOTY award and a chorus of "just because your not the CHOTY" rang out across the halls of Peninsula Mansion. The night also ended perfectly - when presented with the bill the price per head was only $305. WOW. Great service. Great food. Great choice for a curry. Great price. And yes, I am swaying. In the end a great night at a traditional curry house with great staff & great chefs. Very much deserved of the CHOTY. On behalf of the OCC Hong Kong Branch Adam Riley