Eat your way around the world at York's newest restaurant. MAXINE GORDON reports

THEY call it the "global kitchen", and you can see why.

Cosmo is York's newest restaurant, just opened on the river walkway at Bridge Street (in the former Argos building), and boasts some 150 dishes from all corners of the world.

Modelled on the 'all-you-can-eat' buffet style of restaurants, diners can fill up on fresh pastas and pizzas, platters of sushi, an array of Indian and Thai curries, as well as stir-fries, a grill and carvery and a salad and deli bar. Got a sweet tooth? Then there is an eight metre chiller full of desserts to get your teeth into.

Many of the dishes are made by chefs at live cooking stations in front of customers.

Kabelo Kholo Kholo is the group development chef for Cosmo, which has 15 restaurants in the UK, including four in Yorkshire. He said: "We will also have a tasting kitchen, offering small dishes of chef's specials such as mini burgers, mini baskets of fish and chips and little casseroles of cottage pie."

Diners pay one price for the buffet:, from £8.49 at lunchtime to £13.99 at dinner.

Here are two international dishes from Cosmo's global kitchen, for readers to try at home:

Thai Tom Yum Soup

Hot soup is the perfect start to any meal – and what better way to start a Thai banquet with a traditional Tom Yum soup.

From pan to table in just 30 minutes, make sure all your ingredients are peeled, chopped and crushed before starting.

Serves four

Ingredients

300ml water

1 litre chicken stock

6 lemongrass sticks

110g fresh galangal peeled and sliced (available from Chinese supermarkets)

8 tomatoes, cut into quarters

3 red chillies, thinly sliced

2 limes, juice only

3 kaffir lime leaves, lightly crushed

4 fresh coriander roots, crushed

75ml tamarind water (available from Chinese supermarkets). Soak the tamarind in hot water and push the pulp through a sieve to make tamarind water.

75ml fish sauce (nam pla), or to taste

75g palm sugar (available from Chinese supermarkets). Use brown sugar if unavailable

12 raw tiger prawns, shelled, gutted and split in half

2 boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into chunks

To serve

1 small bunch fresh coriander leaves

1 small bunch fresh Thai basil leaves (available from Chinese supermarkets)

lime wedges

Method

1. Place the stock and water into a large pan over a high heat and bring to the boil.

2. Add the lemongrass, coriander roots, galangal, tomatoes, lime leaves, lime juice, tamarind water and red chillies.

Return to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

3. Taste the stock and add as much fish sauce and palm sugar as necessary to keep the salty-sour-hot-sweet taste, then remove from the heat.

4. Transfer 220ml of the stock into a separate pan over a high heat and bring to the boil.

5. Add the chicken and cook for 1-2 minutes.

6. Add the prawns and cook for a further 1-2 minutes, or until completely cooked through.

7. To serve, pour the soup into two bowls and top up with the hot stock.

8. Garnish with Thai basil, coriander and a wedge of lime.

Serve while piping hot and as a starter or a main course – depending on how hungry you are.

 

Indian Lamb Rogan Josh

Rogan josh is a signature dish of Kashmiri cuisine and is traditionally made with lamb. This dish has the subtle heat a curry needs to give it a kick, without being overwhelming.

Ingredients

500g lamb leg, cut into one inch pieces

4 tablespoons ghee or vegetable oil

750ml heated curry sauce

2 tablespoons paprika

1 teaspoon red chilli powder (or more to taste)

2 tablespoons cashew paste (simply grind a few cashews with a little water into a paste)

1 tablespoon cumin

3 tablespoons plain yoghurt

1 tablespoon garam masala powder

Salt and pepper to taste

3 tablespoons chopped coriander

Method

1. Brown the lamb in the ghee and then add 250ml of the curry sauce. Reduce the heat and cook until tender – around just over an hour. This can be done in advance and kept in the fridge until needed. Also suitable for freezing for future use.

2. Once the lamb is tender, pour in all of the remaining curry sauce.

3. Add the, paprika, cumin, cashew paste and chilli powder. Bring to a boil. The sauce will turn a deep red colour.

4. Take the pan off the heat and add the yoghurt one teaspoon at a time whisking as you do to combine. Don’t add all the yoghurt all at once – it will curdle.

5. Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste, along with the garam masala.