Clay’s

There’s nothing retiring about the acid yellow and ochre design scheme of this vast dining room, but sports fans will recognise the Indian Premier League cricket colours of Hyderabad and can garner a small clue as to what’s in store.  Even though this restaurant is the epitome of an Indian eatery for the local community (it even evolved into its current form with backing from the locals), it's a world away from your average high-street curry house. Starters set the bar high, from cabbage pakoras with green coriander chutney to payyoli chicken fry – crunchy, succulent, sweet and salty, served with a coconut-fried crumble for extra texture.  Main courses continue to please: the house special of 'chicken ghee roast' delivers highly flavoured, spicy morsels of chicken in an almost impossibly rich sauce.  But there’s much more than chicken or lamb on this menu.  Beef (rarely seen in your average curry house) is here cooked 'osso buco' style, and the repertoire also extends to an Andhra-style goat curry as well pork belly with a tamarind and ginger glaze. Their version of bhuna, where the meat is cooked slowly in herbs and spices and its own juices until it's tender enough to cut with a spoon, is unmistakably based on venison. Portions are hefty and filling, so you may find yourself skipping dessert, but if you have space for some peanut-butter ice cream, you won't be disappointed. This is not smart, fine dining, but it’s full of regulars who come for Hyderabadi home cooking, and who like to wash their suppers down with locally brewed real ale and decent wine – there’s not a Cobra beer in sight.