North East Veggie Curry

Bilash 5 Station Road, Cullercoats, Tyne and Wear (0191) 251 3891 www.bilashcullercoats.co.uk A couple of friends had mentioned Bilash to me in passing, but somehow I'd never followed it up. Then, when I did eventually drive past to take a look, it seemed rather small and unimpressive. That was my first mistake. My second was in waiting so long to visit, because when we did eventually make a trip there it proved once again that great things really do come in small packages. Bilash is tucked away off the seafront in Cullercoats in what was clearly once a corner shop. It's not entirely off-the-beaten track because it's front door is within a chapatti throw of the entrance to Cullercoats Metro station, but unless you arrive by Metro you'd be unlikely to stumble across it. As a one-time corner shop you'd expect it to be fairly snug inside, though it's not as tight as you might expect. In fact, someone has been pretty clever with the

Kamal 279 Stanhope St,  Newcastle upon Tyne NE4 5JU ( 0191) 226 1726 www.kamalrestaurant.co.uk Kamal is located in Newcastle's Inner West End, a bare 15 minute walk from the city centre. It is an area where, over the past 50 years or so, the Asian community has very much made its home, with Stanhope Street one of its main commercial centres . The restaurant has been a fixture here for some time, but underwent a minor transformation in recent years when what was originally a pair of restaurants both called Komal (the other is near West Jesmond Metro station), was divided with the sale of the Stanhope Street restaurant. It's new owners made the subtle name change though little else appears to have changed. Inside, Kamal is cooly contemporary but with a traditional flavour, bright, comfortable and rather smart but with informal touches. For example, they dispense with elaborate linen table cloths and set places directly onto dark wooden tables. We

River Beat Pipewellgate, Gateshead NE8 2BJ (0191) 477 0553 www.riverbeat.co.uk I'd never intended for this blog to be about anything other than Indian (or Bangladeshi, or Pakistani, or Sri Lanken) curries and the restaurants that serve them. But then I found myself going for a meal with friends to a Far East Asian restaurant which had, in among its various Thai and far eastern dishes, a section devoted to Far Eastern curries. And I have to say I was intrigued. River Beat is probably best known for its Asian tapas which offers customers the chance to sample a wide range of dishes from countries like Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China, Japan and Malaysia. It's an imposing place, perched right on the edge of the River Tyne close to the Swing Bridge in a rather splendid brick building that was once the headquarters of the local river Police (hence the name). Inside is cool, modern and airy, the sort of place you'd be happy just to sit around in