OP here. I think it's an apt metaphor. To expand/clarify, I would say that the spiciness of the curry was at the same time hard work (ie. having to parse the headlines, for example) and the main reason I went to this restaurant (it made it unique, it was a differentiator). I would visit it occasionally for a treat (or whenever a big event happened in Tech, although I'm mixing my metaphors now), but not as something one does every day.