Khyber Pass, Glasgow

IT'S fair to say we don’t exactly get off to a good start. I’m standing at the counter for 15, maybe 20, minutes being completely and utterly ignored. It’s not like the man, the men, behind it aren’t seeing me. I’m three feet away most of the time, only one foot away when, after 10 minutes, I say “excuse me” and am told: “We’re busy”.

And they are very busy. The tables are all full. Many of them pushed together with families spilling over onto seats tucked and squeezed in here and there. But still, I’ve been here a very long time. On a very hot August night. With the extra heat from the ovens and cooking fires sending an itchy trickle of sweat uncomfortably down my brow, with St Andrews Drive outside tantalisingly lit up by a gloriously blazing orange sunset.

A polite word would have made it more bearable, actually there are words being handed out to customers who came in long after me, but still not a word to me, and as I hear them I’m ready to walk.

Tick, tock, it’s not even busy now. I’m off.

Then, wham, the guy who does the cooking, who rolls the dough for the naan breads, puts them on the little pillow, slaps then on the side of the tandoor, the guy who has been forming those kebabs around the skewers, deep frying those big round kebabs in that huge vat of oil with the flames licking up the side. That guy. Nice guy as it turns out. He says: "Excuse me. You’ve been waiting a very long time.”

And I get served. After all that… the double skewer kobidah kebab wrapped in a naan for a whole fiver that I take home, cos I wasn’t sitting down after that. It’s pretty good.

So we come back tonight. Myself and Garry. Two guys in suits.

Now at this point I’ve got to say that The Herald photographer has been out here today. Usually he or she comes the day after, but what with the not-sitting-down the review is delayed, screwing everything up on the secret squirrel front.

Let’s just say it’s better service tonight. Relatively. We’re acknowledged, and that’s an improvement. Not warmly, but definitely.

And to be fair to them it’s a lot quieter. And quicker.

We’re eating lamb chops, succulent, spicy; a sizzling seekh kebab; one of those round Pashtun chapli kebabs, studded with spices, cumin flaring out of every bite, and we’re tearing off fresh naan. Naan that we can see being rolled from the tub of dough and cooked immediately. Naans that cost 50p each. Seriously, 50p.

We follow up with a half kilo of the lamb karahi at £12. A full kilo is available too at £22, but as I ordered a bowl of paya I thought that would be going too far.

I’m tempted to say this is a masculine place, brusque serving staff, lots of shouting orders when busy. Man flavours too – the lamb is so powerful it makes us wonder what the mutton would be like – but there are as many women sitting eating this evening as there are men.

It’s ticking over steadily. Customers pulling up seats at empty tables, three men in T-shirts by the window, a table of women at the back.

The curry? That karahi? Large chunks of very much bone-on meat, deep rich spicing, a trickle of sauce at the bottom. I’m enjoying it. I’m looking up at Garry though and he, I suspect, would be happier with a nice korma, anything actually, from one of those tamed and neutered Glasgow curry houses.

This is not that kind of place. It’s rough and sometimes even ready.

It’s very cheap but actually pretty tasty. It’s one for the hardcore out there. I like that.

And you know what: as we leave I even got a cheery-ish goodbye. Extra service point for that.

The Khyber Pass

221 St Andrews Drive

Glasgow

0141 429 5959

Menu: Karahis by the kilo, mixed grill by the mountain, kobidahs chaplis and paya. It’s curry and kebabs but not how we normally get it. 4/5

Atmosphere: If you like a bit of food theatre here’s the place to be as everything, including the naans, are made on the go. Decor is basic though and no drinks licence. 3/5

Price: Those freshly made nans at 50p are worth the journey alone. Stick a couple of skewers in and you may hit a fiver. Great bargain. 5/5

Service: Not their strong point when they are busy, not their strong point either when they are quieter though it does improve slightly and that ups the score. 2/5

Food: This is real street food quick (when they’re not full) and basic, but pretty fresh with full on flavours. Go if you like that sort of thing more than comfort and service. 7/10

Total: 21/30