Curry Christmas Comes But Once a Year

In the midst of the dark New Zealand winter, a shining light appears on the horizon in early July. It is of course the annual RCCC Mid-Winter Curry Extravaganza, held annually at Saket. $20 Secret Santa budget, beers before and after at Bailies and always a great night. The assembled gentlemen resplendent in their RCCC finery, made the Bailies maidens weak at the knees and the resident house band were buttered up to play some RCCC favourites later. All the while, furtive glances were made at the growing pile of likely dodgy presents.

At Saket we were pleased to see that necessary arrangements had been made to cater for the merry RCCC throng, with our table taking pride of place in centre of the restaurant. Apologies to the other punters, it was reasonably loud and definitely not PC but that’s what happens when the RCCC is in town. Once drinks and dinner orders had been placed and the Maharajah made his welcome address, the Secret Santa Shenanigans began. After some half decent booty had been acquired and surprisingly few traded, the definitely dodgy last few remained. There was a strong dress-up theme which resonated with many, given the RCCC is mostly known for its fine attire, with some curry and beer on the side.

To no-one’s surprise, the food and service were excellent as always, with the curry scoring an outstanding 4.7/5 on the RCCC Curry Meter. Back at Bailies the band were coerced into playing “Ring of Fire” which judging by the post visitation messages, sounded bang on! An instant classic and we’re already looking forward to next year’s Mid-Winter edition.

Service: 4.4/5

Food: 4.7/5

Total: 9.1/10

Saket, 76 Edgeware Rd