“Fancy a curry?”

It is one of those questions that sounds as though the difficult bit is deciding yes or no.

It isn’t.

Because “curry” covers an enormous amount of food.

Different regions.

Different histories.

Different spices.

Different ways of cooking.

And yet most of us still have that one order we can recite without looking.

You know the one.

You open the menu.

Pretend to consider something new.

Then order exactly what you had last time.

Nothing wrong with that.

But if you fancy breaking the habit, two local menus show just how different the night can become.

The “I Thought Vindaloo Just Meant Hot” Option 1498 The Spice Affair

1498 The Spice Affair describes its food as modern Goan Indian cuisine shaped by Arabian, Portuguese and native influences.

That immediately makes things more interesting.

Take vindaloo.

For plenty of people, that word still means the curry somebody orders after saying, “Go on then, make it hot.”

Usually followed by a lot of bravado and a very red face and has interesting after effects.

But the Goan story is much richer than that.

The dish has Portuguese roots, linked to vinho de alho, and the menu also includes dishes such as xacuti, fish recheado and cafreal.

So this is one of those evenings where it is worth ignoring the usual “mild, medium or hot?” thinking.

Order by curiosity instead.

Pick something because you have never tried it.

Ask what the dish is meant to taste like.

And maybe discover that vindaloo has been badly typecast for years.

The “I’m Not Ordering The Same Thing Again” Option — Lotus

Lotus on Westgate brings Nepalese cooking into the mix alongside Indian dishes.

That gives you another chance to escape the automatic order.

Look towards the Nepalese side.

Dumplings.

Grilled dishes.

Specialities you might normally skip because the familiar favourite is sitting three lines further down.

This is where sharing helps.

One person orders the thing they know.

The other orders the thing nobody at the table can pronounce confidently.

Everyone tries everything.

And suddenly dinner is more involving than having the same curry you have been ordering since 2014.

The Menu Is Better When You Stop Treating It Like A Heat Chart

That is really the point.

We have a habit of reducing curry to temperature.

Mild.

Medium.

Hot.

Very hot.

How brave are you feeling or will my mates be impressed?

But that misses half the story.

Goan food brings one history.

Nepalese food brings another.

And both give you a reason to order something because of where it comes from, not because there are three chilli symbols next to it.

So the next time somebody says:

“Fancy a curry?”

Try answering with another question.

“What kind?”

It might be the difference between ordering the usual...

…and finding the dish you end up talking about all the way home.

Tell us below in the comments section

What is the curry-house dish you ordered on a whim and now refuse to stop ordering?