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The Time: September 1, 8pm

The Pub Aforehand: The Dowanhill, Dowanhill Road

In Attendance: Trampy, The Trampy, Mumbai Me A Pony, Naanbread Mouskouri, Aldo Gobi, Daddy Ghee and Rumpole Of The Balti

Decor: Materialising at a secret location in Partick, the Authentic(?) Curryhouse team had gone to some effort to turn a large classroom-esque space into a homely dining area, with attractive mismatched crockery, nice tableclothes, Scrabble tiles on the tables and very dim lighting. The effect was pleasingly higgledy-piggledy.

Expectations: Although the Authentic(?) Curryhouse had been on the TATTGOC radar for yonks, as a Brigadoon-esque pop-up restaurant it wasn't clear what to expect. The website hinted "think Tchai-Ovna – but over a curry", suggesting things would be laidback, and possibly imminently closed down by a construction cabal.

The Experience:

No wonder hardly anyone can successfully sustain a dictatorship anymore. Once you start relaxing rules and regulations, soon the whole things spins off its axis. So after their paradigm-smashing relocation to former arch-rival Edinburgh for the entire month of August (see posts passim), perhaps it shouldn't be too surprising to learn that when the Tramps returned to their regular stomping ground of Glasgow, they felt compelled to tear up the phonebook-sized TATTGOC rulebook. Not that they were running out of curryhouses to cover in Glasvegas – no sirree, the list of targets is as long as ever. It's just, once you've had a taste of curry without rules, such as the now legendary August outing, you want to try and keep that summer spirit alive, y'know? As TATTGOC's Canadian totem guide once said: Oh when I look back now, that summer seemed to last forever. And if I had the choice ... yeah, I'd always want to be there. Those were the best days of my life ...

So on returning to the bosom of Glasgow, the Tramps decided to go for a long-held target. The Authentic(?) Curryhouse – question mark model's own – first popped up on their radar through guerilla advertising: a chained-up bike with the name of the curryhouse painted on it, with the web address. (And this was a full year before the new Vietnamese canteen The Hanoi Bike Shop cannily did something similar.) After checking out the website, the Tramps discovered it was essentially a monthly pop-up restaurant based in the Glasgow Harbour community, with a flat fee for three veggie-friendly courses.  The Tramps vowed to head there at the earliest possible opportunity. And hey, it only took, like, a year!

Online and email voting in the Curry Capital 2012 competition finishes TOMORROW – Friday September 21st – so if there was ever a good time to vote "Glasgow" (or even "Edinburgh"), you should send an email to votecity@fedrest.com clearly indicating that one of these fine cities deserves the title. Of course, that closing date isn't the be all and end all of the competition – all the major players have a team of four restaurants to represent them in the run-up to the final announcement on October 29.

For the record, TATTGOC has no official ties to the Glasgow campaign, but that means that – like hounded Batman at the end of The Dark Knight – the Tramps can do things that no-one else is prepared to do, with the additional cloak of plausible deniability. Last year, plucky Wolverhampton garnered a lot of attention (or at least 300 or so views) with their excellent reversioning of a Katy Perry hit, panel-beating it into a catchy pro-Wolverhampton anthem. We can all agree that singer Amy Goodall is excellent, while the DJ/rapper is ... slightly less excellent:



This was discussed at length on the most recent episode of Keep Calm And Curry On, during which the Tramps had an epiphany: surely in 2012 some other city would try and replicate the buzzy success of Wolverhampton by refitting an earworm in some sort of curry livery? So the Tramps took it upon themselves to bagsy perhaps the most popular song of the year: Call Me Maybe, by Carly Rae Jespen. This one-minute snatch is just a taster of what the Tramps can do, but will hopefully be enough to deter other cities from covering this unbelievably catchy track. (Unfortunately, Gangnam Style is still up for grabs, so prepare yourselves, sexy ladies.)

For now, Glasgow, Baby is a mere one-minute taster of what TATTGOC are capable of producing, but if anyone was interested in turning the song into a full-blown promo, the Tramps would dearly like to hire an open-top bus, cruise round George Square and put together a slavish shot-by-shot remake of the classic Glasgow Diamonds video. But let's not get ahead of ourselves – just remember and vote! (And if you want this future pop classic for your iPod, you can download Glasgow, Baby HERE)




SOME OTHER RECENT TATTGOC NEWS POSTS
Our Curry Podcast Hits Double Figures Yet Maturity Remains Elusive
Let's Get Back To Helping Glasgow Reclaim The Curry Capital Title
Woo-Who! It's Edinburgh's Curry Tardis!

After a wee break during TATTGOC's month-long Edinburgh adventure, our podcast Keep Calm And Curry On is back Back BACK with the milestone of episode 10. It's another packed instalment, with the usual witty and urbane mix of curry news and opinion, an unfortunate reference to swinging within the first five minutes, plus a quick lunch review of the new Glasgow Curry Shop in Ashton Lane and an in-depth look at the newly-announced teams of restaurants that'll represent key cities in the Curry Capital 2012 competition. And if you think that The Tramp's Jukebox Puri has sounded pretty far out in the past, we guarantee you've never heard anything quite like this episode's instalment ... it really is pretty mindbending, if not necessarily all that musical.

Enough hype! It's all there, jammed into the Mixcloud player below:


DOWNLOAD THE MP3: Here!

LISTEN ON MIXCLOUD: Here!

(Click below for the shownotes, with useful links and info for Episode 10:)

A change is as good as a rest, and so when it came to planning their summer holiday, TATTGOC opted for the busman's route by spending the month of August learning about their arch-rival Edinburgh and its amazing curry culture. You can relive this epochal journey just be scrolling down this page, to see what the Tramps made of the Athens of the North (to be honest, it's a bit like Tarzan in New York) but also to glean some vital recommendations from Edinburgh foodies and faces who actually know what they're talking about.

But while the festival city might have turned their heads a little, the Tramps will always remain loyal to Glasgow, Crossmyloof and hope to die. So it's time to start re-banging the drum for Curry Capital 2012. Just yesterday, the team of four restaurants who will represent No Mean City in the spicy Wrestlemania were announced. So who are the proud squad of curry champions representing Glasgow for 2012? Here's a clue:

The Glasgow-set Jossy's Giants reboot remains on hold

As announced by Lord Provost Sadie Docherty, it's gonna be a team of KoolBa, Mister Singh's, Mother India and Neelim. And that line-up doesn't represent a complete overhaul of the 2011 representatives. KoolBa and The Neelim are veterans of last year's team, and the other half of the 2012 squad comprises two restaurants that have been involved in previous Curry Capital competitions, so it's a line-up with a lot of history and experience. That can only be a good thing, because the Curry Capital places a high premium on restaurants that can demonstrate links with the community.

Nautical but nice: Britannia Spice is on the Edinburgh team

Over on the other side of the M8 in TATTGOC's newly-adopted second Scottish city of curry, Edinburgh have picked a team of Britannia Spice, Radhani, Spice Pavilion and Suruchi. While the Tramps haven't heard much about Radhani, the other three restaurants have been recommended by Edinburgh pals. There will be some deeper analysis – or at least what passes for analysis – on the next episode of Keep Calm And Curry On, the TATTGOC podcast.

In the meantime, here are the full teams for each city competing in Curry Capital 2012:

Glasgow: Neelim, Koolba, Mother India, Mr Singh's India
Bradford: Shimla Spice, Aagrah Shipley, Zouk, Akbars
Wolverhampton: Café Rickshaw, Bilash, Red Fort, Massala Club
Birmingham: Saffron, Lasan, Maharajah, Asha's
Leicester: Leeja Palace, Anjuna, Mem Saab, Curry Fever
Manchester: EastzEast Riverside, Moon, Zaika, Imli
Newcastle: Dubbawal, Khan's, Vujon, Sachins
Sheffield: Kasmiri Aroma, Cutlers Spice, Everest, Saffron Club
Liverpool: EastzEast, Spiceways, Gulshan, Sultans Palace
Leeds: Sheesh Mahal, Anaans, Spice Quarter, Akbars
Cardiff: Moksh, Mango House, Purple Poppadom, Mowgli's
Edinburgh: Britannia Spice, Radhani, Spice Pavilion, Suruchi
Northampton: Mem-Saab, LaZeez, Tamarind, Imperial Raj
Nottingham: Curry Lounge, The Cumin, Lime, Bridge & Bay Leaf
London North: Masala Zone, Eriki, Namaaste Kitchen, Zeen
London South: Ma Goa, Babur, Everest Inn, Nazmins
London West: Brilliant, Madhus, Five Hot Chillies, Indian Zing
London Central: Chakra, Trishna, Moti Mahal, Tamarind

So what happens now? While the restaurants will carry most of the weight when it comes to the national judging, it's still possible to vote directly for your preferred city by emailing votecity@fedrest.com – hey, you could even vote for Edinburgh! – although be aware that the closing date for such votes is September 21. 

After that, National Curry Week runs October 8-14, and then the winner of Curry Capital 2012 is announced on October 29. A lot can happen in seven weeks, and we're hoping that there will be many inspired stunts to promote all the cities in the race. After Bradford's giant bhaji trundled them to victory last year, who knows what's in the offing? At the very least, someone should stage a pilau fight ...

SOME OTHER RECENT TATTGOC NEWS POSTS
Courtesy Of Cafe India, A Very Special TATTGOC Tapas Tastin'