How did Action start? In Coopers Plains there's an Indian restaurant with a story, the story of ACTION.

Once upon a time in Salisbury, there was a share house filled to the brim with five boys, their girlfriends, friends, uni mates, aquaintances and hangers-on. As boys will be boys, they did a lot of silly things and often tried to prove that each was tougher than the others.

On visits to their local Indian restaurant, the boys ordered hot curries, found that they didn't hurt nearly enough, and proceeded to order hotter and hotter curries. The owner of this restaurant, a charismatic man by the name of Kuma, complied with these requests with style and humour.

After a few visits, the boys grew bold. When their order was taken, the challenge began. "Very hot!", said one. "Indian hot!", said another. "Give me Action!", said Lachlan, the most intrepid (some would say stupid) of them all. At this, a gleam appeared in Kuma's eye. He rolled up his sleeves and exclaimed, "Action, you said? You want Action, I'll give you Action!!" (At this point, although no-one really knows, we suspect Lachlan thought something to the tune of "Uh-oh.")

And Kuma went into the kitchen, boiled up some secret herbs, spices and a good deal of hot chilli, and proceeded to deliver exactly what the boys had requested.

He gave them ACTION.

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On our most recent visit to Café Kuma, we had set Kuma the Action challenge, and he had agreed to roll up his sleeves and really try to hurt us, once again. We got some of the original gang together, as well as a few new faces (who often appeared bewildered), for an excellent old school Action Curry night. And Kuma did not disappoint. We were greeted like old friends on this quiet Wednesday evening, and it seemed as if Kuma was anxious to get started on our curries, like an artist waiting to unveil his masterpiece. We opened our beers & wine from the conveniently placed bottle shop (about 20 metres away), while we waited for the rest of our group to arrive, and Kuma paced impatiently.

As soon as the table was full, Kuma and his friendly staff started bringing out the curries and naan - Kuma's choice, we're not entirely sure what we got, but they were all delicious. We started eating as soon as we could, and the boys were disappointed with the Action level in the vindaloo, until we found out Kuma was in the kitchen finishing off our special Action curry himself.

Kuma brought it out with a flourish, and a mild cheer went up from the table. Here you can see Keff and Kuma with that curry, Keff looking thrilled at the prospect of Action, Kuma not so sure, possibly thinking about his public liability insurance.

As we ventured through the 12 curries, naan and rice that we received, including the Action curry, several things became apparent:
1. The food was great
2. We had no hope of finishing all this food.
3. The Action consisted of a slow, delayed burn, rather than a fiery blow to the head, which took some of our group by surprise, and quickly silenced their macho claims of "not so hot". Kuma explained to us that he could have actually made the curry hotter, but did not want to sacrifice taste in the search for ultimate action. He claimed that "You can have taste or heat. Not both."

A few other quotes that were noted during the consumption of this Action curry: Us: "What is this, a beef vindaloo?" Kuma: "No, it is nothing. We don't know anymore!" "Kuma will be pleased to see we couldn't finish it." "Oh, well in that case..." "Me too!" "Can I have some?" "This is childish and stupid...!" The service was great, as it usually is on the quiet weeknights. The popularity of Café Kuma means that on the weekends things can get a bit hectic, and Kuma doesn't always get the chance to meet and greet all of his patrons. But his friendly staff do a great job, and the curries are fantastic so you won't be disappointed.

As for the atmosphere, it is casual and relaxed, and we usually bring our own fun anyway. This visit the guys wanted to rate the atmosphere 12/10, if only because the stereo played "I'm feeling hot, hot, hot!" just as they got stuck into the Action. Coincidence? They don't think so.

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Café Kuma ratings out of 10:

Pre-drinking establishment:	N/A
Restaurant:	Café Kuma, Coopers Plains
	Staggering Distance (Proximity from bottle shop)	Rating: 10 - Brilliant
	The Chronicles of Naan (How good was the naan?)	Rating: 5 - Ok (garlic naan)
	Action! (How hot was the "action" curry?)	Rating: 8 - Great, see above comments
	Other curries (How did the other curries fare?)	Rating: 9 - Excellent, chef's choice
	The Vibe (Atmosphere)	Rating: 12 - due to music choice
	Thank you, come again! (Service)	Rating: 9 - Excellent
	Shenanigans	Rating: 9 - Excellent
	Restaurant score	Rating: 8.86

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*Please note that none of these restaurants have any affilliation with www.actioncurry.com, have not authorised any of the comments or details listed on this website, nor have they paid us or given us any free food (although we wish they would!) All information is given in good faith in the hope that it might inspire someone else to take up the Action challenge.