Good for grabbing food on the go
The Limassol Agora opened its doors approximately four years ago, having been renovated and transformed from the old-school Pantopoleio into a modern all-day venue.
Not much has since changed since its launch, aside from a few things being rearranged and some of the shops and restaurants having closed, replaced by others.
We visited Agora on a Wednesday evening and things were quite quiet across the board. A few patrons here and there, with numerous tables available in the ground floor communal seating area.
There was a general feeling of tidiness in the food hall, even toward the end of the day, with amenities being well-maintained and clean.
On to the food. Our visit was pre-planned and the particular food already selected. We had decided to try out Curry Club, an Indian spot we hadn’t yet tasted, particularly after another similar establishment in the area switched to a take-away only model.
But the Curry Club is not a fully-fledged restaurant. It’s a tiny spot serving food on the go. With that in mind, let’s dive into the understandably lean menu.
They offer a few starters, including onion bhajis, prawn pakoras and chicken wings. As the name suggests, they also have various curry dishes, with both chicken and seafood options.
Prices range from €8.90 to €12.90, which includes a portion of rice next to which the curry is served.
In terms of mild curries, they have chicken or beef korma, both cooked with cardamon in a creamy sauce.
Hotter curries include a chicken hot curry, and a prawns hot curry, cooked with Indian spices and chilli.
Other options on the menu include the butter chicken, beef masala, veggie curry and prawn masala.
On the night of our visit, they had run out of beef, so we tried three chicken curries. These were the butter chicken, chicken masala and chicken hot curry.
We also had a portion of onion bhaji and split one ‘Indian bread’, which they don’t refer to as a naan, even though it tries to be one. Unfortunately, the bread was a bit disappointing. It was quite dry and lacked the usual soft, fluffy texture of a proper naan.
The bhaji was fine, very much on the crispy side, and came with a small tub of raita sauce. More of that wouldn’t have gone amiss, to offset the heavily crusted batter.
In terms of the curries, the chicken masala was the pick of the bunch, followed by the much spicier chicken hot curry. The latter was cooked in spicy green curry and coconut milk and may be a tad too hot for the average Cypriot tongue.
However, even the most timid and unadventurous palette would have been somewhat disappointed by the butter chicken. There was nothing particularly wrong with it other than it being a bit too creamy and a little bland.
That being said, if I have one main criticism, it would be the portions. The box each curry is served in suggests a fair price, at least in an era of high inflation and exaggerated food prices. However, after closer inspection, the majority of the food you receive is rice and sauce. In all three curries, the amount of meat may be 100 grams or less. Whatever the actual quantity, the ratio of meat to sauce and rice is very much off.
All in all, we don’t regret trying this place out, and if you’re in the area fancying a quick Indian dish on the go, you could consider it as an option. But I wouldn’t go out of my way to visit.
VITAL STATISTICS
SPECIALTY Indian
WHERE Curry Club, Limassol Agora, Saripolou, Limassol
WHEN Agora shuts down at 12am (Monday-Thursday), and 2am (Friday, Saturday), but the food stops being served at 10:15pm
HOW MUCH €5.50 to €8.90 for a starter, €8.90 to €12.90 for curries
CONTACT: 70070070
