There can be few better indicators of Leamington's mutlculturalism than this fact: there are more places to buy a curry than there are to buy fish and chips.
Most are concentrated in Old Town, where competition for custom must border on the cut-throat. While their feel may vary from canteen-playing-disco-hits to authentically-decorated-curry-house-playing-sitar, their food is generally reliable, cheap and multi-coloured. Standing out from the crowd in a culinary sense is therefore quite a selling point.
Kismet appears to take itself and its food a bit more seriously than some of its competitors down the road. Its décor is light and lacking in cliché and tackiness. Guests are first seated in a vestibule as they ponder the menu over a drink, giving at least an impression of ceremony and momentum, while the choice of dishes is bewilderingly broad.
Our vegetable pakoras were presented to us as we were seated in the main dining area. They were not spectacular, but then vegetable pakoras rarely are. Their variation of texture and flavour was pronounced and satisfying, adequately fulfilling their roles as starters.
Jaipuri chicken was my choice for the main course, and I was quite pleased with it. The taste of the bird was all but lost among the spices, and the dish as a whole lacked nuance, but it had just enough going on to be interesting.
My companion was rewarded for his more adventurous choice of curried monkfish. It was tasty rather than spicy, the fish's flavour cutting through the sauce. "Definitely not bland" was his approving verdict.
Such oral bombardment left little appetite for dessert, but there was room for a shot of Bailey's served automatically by the ever-respectful staff as a parting gesture. In fact, so enjoyable was the evening that my dining partner missed his train home, unwilling to step out of the restaurant's relaxed atmosphere.
The bill was £34, which was easily comparable with the price of its rivals. So it remains one of the town's classier curry houses - and if their number continues to increase at the rate it has during the past 20 years, future Asian entrepreneurs could do worse than look at Kismet as an example of how to do it well.
Kismet, Spencer Street, Leamington
8/10
