Forest Row is bustling on
a summery(ish) Saturday evening. With a slight stretch of imagination you could be in Italy;
people greeting each other out on the streets, promenading past the town’s
restaurants and historic pubs of which there are more than a fair share.
All venues
look well patronised but none more so than Roochi, a smart Indian restaurant overlooking
the street. We joined the steady stream
of customers to be welcomed by friendly waiter Ali who gives us a grandstand
seat from where we can survey the restaurant’s comings and goings.
The atmosphere is relaxed and jovial; the
majority of customers are obviously regulars who know and like the staff; many
are greeted by first name. No wonder, as the 31-year-old owner, Mohammed
Haque Jay, is an outgoing and charming chap who has built up strong
relationships with his diners. But it hasn’t been an easy route into the
hearts and stomachs of the good people of Forest Row. Jay originally hails from the north and he
tells us it’s taken him at least five years to be accepted as a local.
So how did a Bradford born-and-bred
lad end up in a posh town in East Sussex?
According to Jay, his
parents sent him off down south to ‘find himself’ after he went through a bit
of a wild patch as a young lad. “They basically said go away and do whatever
you want to do,” he says with a cheeky smile. Fortunately, although Jay didn’t
come from a catering background (his father worked as a mechanic), he had a cousin
in the restaurant trade and decided this was where he wanted to seek his
fortune. Working in a restaurant in nearby Hawley he started out at the back of
house, but with his sparkling personality, wit and ready repartee, it wasn’t
long before he moved to take front stage. The experience taught him a lot about
the restaurant profession. “Basically I thought to myself, if this business is successful,
run in this way, I’m sure I could do a lot better.”
Fourteen years later Jay
has much more successful eateries in Reigate,
Lingfield, Hawley and, of course, Forest Row. It seems like quite an
achievement for a young man but beneath Jay’s happy go lucky exterior there
lies a shrewd business mind and the northern ‘nouse’ to seize and make the most
of an opportunity. His success is well (and hard) earned.
“The main thing to start
with is the place, location and how you set up the business,”Jay says. “After
that it’s building up a reputation. We’ve got to a stage where we know everyone
and everyone knows us, but we have to live up to the high standards we have set
- here, people don’t give you a second chance. If the food was very good but the service
poor, people would never forgive you.”
Skilfully tending to his
customers, in between chatting to us, Jay tells us how he is a firm believer in
the concept of “first in, last out”. Working up to 15 to 16 hours a day, he
travels to the wholesalers every night to pick up his next day supply of food
and vegetables. Other produce is sourced even locally. Fish comes from the
excellent fishmongers a few doors down whilst the farm shops nearby provide a
trusty and traceable source of meat. Jay
believes that to get the best out of his products, he needs to be in control of
them and his hands-on approach extends to the kitchen. “Our food and the
preparation all comes from me,” he admits. “I teach staff to do things in a
certain way but more skilled tasks, like the spice blending and marinating
always comes from me so that the quality, style and consistency of food is
always the same.”
Out of all Jay’s
restaurants, Roochi is Jay's “baby”. Inside the venue is like an
Aladdin’s cave and deceivingly spacious.
Cunningly divided into private and group dining areas with interesting views
onto the street, a curved corridor leads around the central bar area which also
serves as a stylish reception. Deep burgundy carpets, chocolate and mahogany
walls contrast with the pristine white tablecloths. Tropical fish swim happily
in tanks with the dual purpose of providing a living room divider and eye
catching display.
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For starters we have succulent duck
kebab and calamari, glistening yellow peppers, crisp lightly dressed salad and
freshly-made, zingy chutneys. Our main course choice is easy – seafood is a
great speciality in the restaurant (Jay hopes to open a fish restaurant one
day), and we have no hesitation in ordering the Seafood Moilee – a
bouillabaisse of Kerala prawns, king prawns, mussels mixed in coconut milk to
create a silky broth flavoured with turmeric and curry leaves, and gigantic
Goan King Prawns with shell, cooked in spring onions, green chillies and
strongly flavoured spices. When the dishes arrive our taste buds are instantly
rewarded with fresh and salty overtones of sea (fortunately not sand), which is
blissfully enhanced, not drowned, by the creamy sauce.
Jay describes the food at
Roochi as “authentic with a modern twist.” Besides the fish option, other
choices range from a Duck Narangi – spicy duck breast pan fried and simmered in
Madeira sauce cooked with juicy oranges and mushrooms, or tender lamb shank,
braised and marinated in a blend of spices. These are sophisticated dishes but
the ‘traditional’ Kormas, Madras
and Vindaloo are also on the menu, incredibly well priced at just %.25 for a simple
chicken or lamb curry. The costliest dish on the menu is the King Prawn
Shashlik and even that is a modest £11.95.
The wine list is one of
the most interesting I’ve seen in any Indian restaurant with vintages and Grand Crus from France, Australia,
South Africa, Argentina and India. Jay tells us his supplier
carefully monitors and changes the list regularly to accommodate the best
sellers.
Owning the place has given
Jay the freedom to “do his own thing” and this extends to his policy towards
staff. With five front-of-house employees and a further five in the kitchen,
Roochi has a close knit team. To ensure perfect service he holds staff meetings
every week where he interacts, pinpoints mistakes and gets feedback from
colleagues. Recruitment is not a problem he says; he works with the local Job Centre
or gets staff online. Employees are trained up and according to where they fit
in best are sometimes asked to move around as Jay also provides some accommodation.
Motivation is encouraged: “We pick up talented people and maybe give them the
opportunity to be chef; then they have an investment in the place and want to
maintain the quality,” Jay says.
Roochi is a restaurant
that’s on the way up and it’s all down to Jay. The exceptional cuisine goes
without saying but our overall impression is of a very professionally run business
that has achieved an ideal balance of happy staff and happy customers. Jay has
moved on a long way from his Bradford days and
will, no doubt, go much further. His parents are now rightly proud of their
son’s success. “In fact my dad still can’t believe it,” he says with a smile.
Roochi, 9
Hartfield Road, Forest
Row RH18 5DN Tel: 01342 825 251
Ingredients:
