For the past five years Thai cuisine has maintained something of a hold on pub food in Brighton and Hove.

But now East Street’s Indian Summer has teamed up with Drink In Brighton’s traditional boozer the Duke Of Norfolk in Western Road to break the monopoly – and provide a more authentic alternative to the Wetherspoons-style curry and a pint.

“It’s an experimental thing for both of us,” says Byron Swales from Indian Summer. “We want to find out if Indian food works in this concept.

“We are coming at it from the restaurant side, and the Duke Of Norfolk is coming at it from the pub side – it’s about merging the separate entities so they fit together. The staff have been really supportive – they’ve tried the food and love it.”

The current menu at the Duke Of Norfolk is made up of five street food options, five main courses and a selection of bar snacks, including papad and pickles, and farsi puri (deep-fried Indian bread).

“A lot of the menu is old favourites from the restaurant,” says Swales. “The main course summer island prawns [king prawns in a chilli, lemon and curry leaf sauce, served with lemon rice, mixed salad and poori] was on our first menu 11 years ago.

“And our red onion pakora [red onion and ginger pieces with gram flour and roasted spices, served with a coriander chutney] has been a mainstay for 11 years.”

He admits the menu is set to change according to demand. “It’s a learning process for us,” he says. “We sent bits and pieces down to the pub before we launched the menu so the regulars could give us some feedback.”

One thing that isn’t being removed from the Duke Of Norfolk menu is the traditional Sunday roast – although Indian Summer is planning to add to it.

“We are going to do a tandoori Sunday roast alongside the English dinner with potatoes and veg,” says Swales.

“We want to introduce things to make it more interesting, but we’re keeping the roast beef, York-shire puddings and gravy for the people who want it. We want to add to it, rather than take anything away.”

There are also plans to increase the Duke Of Norfolk’s wine list – underlining that curries can be eaten with a matched wine rather than just beer.

Swales’ business partner Minesh Agnihotri got the idea for the link-up with Drink In Brighton after visiting one of his former chefs at The Open House in Springfield Road and seeing the queues of people lining up for food.

“We want to make sure the brand is protected,” he says. “We want to work in partnership. Most people have been very positive about it, it’s costing only a little bit of money to try it.

“Someone said to me if Thai can work, no one is doing proper Indian food. It’s the perfect opportunity to do this in the city centre.”

The hope is that if the Duke Of Norfolk’s Indian Summer kitchen is successful, the brand can be taken to other pubs in the area.

Indian Summer was based around Agnihotri’s experience of being taken to a curry house at the age of 18.

“It was so far from the truth,” he says, adding he took his eating partner back to his home to try the real thing from his mother.

The main course of Mamaji Chicken is based on his mother’s own recipe.

“She was a vegetarian all her life,” he says. “She would prepare the spices but never touch the meat or taste it. It would always be fantastic.”

  • Indian Summer at Duke Of Norfolk, Western Road, Brighton, 01273 733245
  • Food served Tuesday to Saturday noon to 3pm and 5pm to 9pm, Sunday noon to 6pm. Visit www.indian-summer.org.uk