Festivities for this month took place in downtown Blue Ash with several members gathering at the Corner Pub to reminisce on last year’s Curry Club winner as well as expectations for the evening.  With a total of 17 acceptances prior to the event, the expectations for the evening were high as we expected to be treated to some of the finest curry Cincinnati has to offer.

 

Arriving at the Bombay Brazier, we found the 2015 CASACC certificate hanging in the entry way.  Moreover, we found the staff were well prepared for our arrival, having gone overboard by serving a few non-members thinking they were part of our group.  Our tables were opposite one of the fantastic paintings that are littered throughout the restaurant.

 

The festivities started with a toast to Alan Patten and his amazing choice in blazers.  We also introduced two provisional members.  Before we could order, a debate was had between those who believe Josh Falter will attempt to remove the guns from the wall and those who believe he can restrain himself long enough to avoid Rip’s wrath.  Tyson and Leom also entered a heated argument over candles which I’m told continues to rage on to this day. 

 

Upon his arrival, member Falter interrupted chef Rip’s explanation of today’s appetizer choices, only then promptly refused to shake the chef’s hand, insulting the man who would prepare his mango chicken, in his frantic desire to occupy the last seat at our dinner table.  Despite this, following the chef’s recommendation two appetizer dishes are ordered for the table.  Later, the group would voice strong agreement that the lamb chop appetizers were probably the best dish on the table that night.

 

After ordering our main course, the discussions among the group began in earnest.  Joni and Sven spent the evening in a manly debate comparing the size type of their Porsche’s.  Falter inspired a number of conversations around the upcoming Game of Thrones fan theories.  Brad wanted dancing girls for the 10^th anniversary celebration, and really just wanted to see dancing girls in general.  Eric told his drunk driving story while several members noted that Adam seemed to spend a lot of time in the restroom.  The president, concerned over his duties as this month’s president, double checked with the wait staff that all bills and heat levels were correct for all members.

 

Satisfied that all was proceeding according to plan, the president was forced to stop the festivities to note a few important infractions.  Ryan Kaplan and Eric Eslinger received yellow cards for their tardy replies to CASACC events.  Tyson would receive a much deserved yellow card later in the evening for continued insults at the presidency throughout the event.  Josh Lukas received a red card for his late venue report much to the group’s awe and disbelief. 

 

Most importantly, the presidency was torn on how to proceed with the yellow card(s) earned by Josh Falter for his hosting of an optional event in August.  Should you have the option of receiving a yellow card for an event you didn’t have to host?  Tasked with this unprecedented situation, the Office of the Presidency improvised and decided to “propose” to Josh “Cincinnati’s Number One Star Wars Fan” Falter, marrying him forever to the Curry Club and re-naming his well-earned title to “Cincinnati’s Number One Spicy Star Wars Fan.” 

 

As Falter accepted, the president granted him the option of pardoning one member.  Standing up and delivering a tearful 10 second speech, he promptly pardoned Josh Lukas.  However, feeling empowered to mic drop the rest of the Curry Club for his red card, Lukas decided to walk out of the group anyway and leave Falter dumbfounded and dealing with several jeers from the group for his wasted vote.  Multiple attempts to console a visibly upset Mr. Lukas were thwarted since no one was able to locate him on their way to the privy, and Josh clearly upheld the rules of the Constitution and stayed out of sight. President Kauffman noted his exemplary display and his respect for the jacket.

 

As our meals arrived, there were many compliments towards the chef, who chose to come out multiple times to personally check with our group and explain how everything was cooked.  Raman commented how the food tastes like home.  Several people commented that the naan was not the best.  Joni raged that the chef shouldn’t be cooking out of a bottle, a response to Rip’s comments about making improvements to the 65 sauce.  Several people were expecting their dishes to be hotter, a clear remnant from the hotness of our Christmas meal at Bombay Brazier.  Sven tried several different dishes and commented that each were great.

 

As the evening winded down, the last item on the agenda was rule proposals and membership.  First was an amendment to specifically explain how to handle withdraw of membership and was passed.  The second proposal was to fix a loophole in requiring all responses to be received within 48 hours, not 24 hours, and also passed.  The third proposal to allow late members a way to avoid a yellow card was deemed to be already within the president’s power and did not pass.  The fourth proposal was to create a distribution list which the group decided to defer until the new server is available.

 

Regarding membership, a vote was made to decide the fate of member RJ Poddar.  Aside from obviously receiving a red card at his next event, the group voted to delay his expulsion by one more month and make his attendance to the September meeting mandatory.  It was agreed that all members are expecting him to arrive with an epic and original excuse to explain how he missed so many meetings.  The vote was a narrow one, but I’m proud to say it was the right one.

 

Finally, congratulations to our two new provisional members, Joni Levi and Tyler Skirtich who both narrowly passed entry as full members after a heated debate.  When adding their scores to the total of the regular CASACC members in attendance, the Bombay Brazier received an 8.54, slightly above its score last year, which keeps Bombay Brazier among the best restaurants visited this year.

 

Overall summary of the deliberations:

 

The Good:

• Exemplary performance by the staff.
  • Meals were delivered correctly and without issue. Staff also remembered heat levels of specific individuals and were able to answer questions about the order when asked.
  • Checks were handled without issue and were prompt. Several mid-meal corrections were also handled without issue.
  • Chef made several trips to the table and gave excellent detail on the food and answered all questions to the satisfaction of the group.
• Restaurant Décor was noteworthy. Along with rifles and sword, two large painting hung near our table captivated the group, especially our two provisional members who found themselves staring at them at the end of the evening.
• Lamb appetiser was noted by many members as being the best memory of the evening.
• “This is the best place we’ve ever been to.”
• “I haven’t had curry like this since I was in London.”

 

The Bad:

• Poppadum’s were flimsy and below expected quality.
• Naan was below the usual quality expected by the group.
• “Food is expensive compared to other restaurants.”

 

The Ugly

• Bathrooms were in bad shape
  • “Bathroom is being held together with staples.”
  • “A high end restaurant’s bathroom is falling apart.”
  • Sign says “Do Not Pee Here.”
  • While ugly, still not as bad as other restaurants.