O-kra is an Indian restaurant in the middle of Friargate in Derby, in a venue that used to be a casino. an impressive looking façade leads you to a seating area with expansive sofas adorned with cushions, a comfortable place to wait for your table. We didn't have to wait long, the restaurant itself is fairly large, tables cater for different sized parties, but even our table for 2 was generously sized. No table too close to each other, so the restaurant although busy had a good ambience, it felt comfortable. Decor wise, very plush, chandeliers adorn the ceiling and large fluted flower vases sat atop of the table.
Food wise, the usual massive array of choices, there must have been 30 starters to choose from! A nice selection of favourites like bhajis, puris, kebabs etc, as well as meat, seafood and vegetarian sharing platters, and more unusual dishes like cured salmon and a small fillet of sea bass. I had the King Prawn Puri, great flavour, beautifully presented with some entertaining salad adornment. My wife had a type of vegetable fritter, tasty but a little greasy. Service was great, unobtrusive, helpful and with good humour. Course pacing was perfect, the mains arrived about 10-15 minutes after the starters. Again a huge choice, old favourites like Balti, Rogan Josh, Jalfrezi, mixed with interesting chef's specials. Between us, we went for a safe plain naan, pilau and chicken korma, plus an exotic sounding Chicken Jhaat Phaat. Naan was great, savoury, not doughy, pilau added texture and the chicken korma had wonderful flavour, not too creamy and strong on the coconut. The Chicken Jhaat Phaat was rich in flavour from the peppers and onions, and the heat from the dish matched the calm flavour of the korma perfectly. A great meal, we will definitely be back soon, and this time to be more daring, less safe.
Drinks wise equally expansive, and all in a rather impressive multi-tiered bar, can't comment much further as I was driving. Just a word caution, the toilets are up two flights of stairs read more