Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Destinations > Europe > U.K. and Ireland
Reload this Page >

Best curry these days?

Best curry these days?

Old Feb 16, 2015, 2:14 am
  #16  
Moderator: UK and Ireland & Europe, and Carbon Conscious Travel
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Biggleswade
Programs: SK*G, Lots of Blue Elsewhere
Posts: 13,611
Andhra food in London! I'm there.
stut is offline  
Old Feb 16, 2015, 11:32 am
  #17  
uk1
Suspended
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: UK
Posts: 11,969
And don't forget to pick up a couple of onion platzels in the Brick Lane Beigel shop for your midnight hotel munchies. A cheese one and a smoke salmon one please. Going that close and not doing so would be a sin.


uk1 is offline  
Old Feb 16, 2015, 1:12 pm
  #18  
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 4,130
Ever so slightly O/T, but if you find yourself on Brick Lane and in need of spicy food get yourself to Sichuan Folk on Hanbury Street. As the name implies, it's not curry, but by God it's good.
Wingnut is offline  
Old Feb 17, 2015, 3:12 am
  #19  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: SE1, London
Posts: 23,359
Originally Posted by bensyd
I'd be meaning to try Ganapati the few times that I was in London but never made it. Thanks for jogging my memory!
I visited after Wingnut suggested it a couple of years ago. It was truly excellent and well worth the bike ride from SE1 and became a monthly treat. Sadly I am now a lot further away
Swanhunter is offline  
Old Feb 17, 2015, 4:37 am
  #20  
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: London
Programs: BA bronze, Hertz pres circle, Marriott Platinum, hilton diamond
Posts: 2,537
Originally Posted by stifle
Couple of good places on Drummond Street.
Agreed.

Ravi Kebab on drummond street. Home cooking and famous for their grilled meats. Pakistan rather then india. Very low rent restaurant, but very good food.

Consider Trishna in Marylebone for more high end seafood based indian, (sister restaurant to Gymkhana).

Lahore is ok as usual.

Khans in westbourne grove has gone down a bit, but a few dishes are still worth ordering. No alcohol is a nuisance though.

Brick lane is pretty lousy, but haven't been in years, if you are dragged there, negotiate a deal before you go in, I would insist on first round of drinks free and 20% off the bill.

Edit: oh, its you!
aceman is offline  
Old Feb 19, 2015, 7:32 am
  #21  
Moderator: UK and Ireland & Europe, and Carbon Conscious Travel
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Biggleswade
Programs: SK*G, Lots of Blue Elsewhere
Posts: 13,611
Originally Posted by stifle
Couple of good places on Drummond Street.
Well, in the interests of thread research, finding myself in the Euston area this lunchtime, I ended up in the Diwana Bhel Puri house on Drummond Street (which didn't appear to offer Bhel Puri, but these are details).

It's a very old-fashioned, scruffy wooden caf style place, mostly serving veg buffets to an interesting mix of people. However, I've been craving dosa since my last transit through MAA, so had the special dosa, which was served up on a scuffed metal place with sambar and coconut chutney. Very tasty. Am going to have to try and find myself in the Euston area more often.

The buffet looked pretty decent, too - seemed to be mostly Gujarati dishes (all veg).
stut is offline  
Old Feb 19, 2015, 7:57 am
  #22  
Ambassador: LATAM
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: PNA
Programs: BAEC Silver
Posts: 4,624
Originally Posted by aceman

Brick lane is pretty lousy, but haven't been in years, if you are dragged there, negotiate a deal before you go in, I would insist on first round of drinks free and 20% off the bill.
I'd do quite the opposite. The decent curry houses in Brick Lane are the ones without tikka touts and normally work out cheaper too.

Go to the restaurant where nobody is haggling you on the door. As a rule of thumb, I'd also avoid restaurants with recesses in the ceiling and blue lights.
JohnnyColombia is offline  
Old Feb 19, 2015, 3:25 pm
  #23  
Hilton Contributor BadgeHyatt Contributor Badge
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: In the air
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, Bonvoy LT Plat, Hilton Diamond, GHA Tit, BA Gold, Turkish Elite
Posts: 8,683
I've tried the 2-3 well regarded Brick Lane "Indian" restaurants and I thought they were all pretty poor. My current favourite is currently Kennington Tandoori, a sort of local curry house for the powerful. Last time I was there we sat next to the Speaker of the House of Commons and a former Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Dishoom was setup by a former colleague of mine and now has a few venues. They each tend to generate large queues, but the food is modern and very tastey and service usually of very high standard too.
EuropeanPete is offline  
Old Feb 20, 2015, 3:10 pm
  #24  
 
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: UK. BAEC AAdvantage
Programs: Mucci Des Oeufs Brouilles et des Canards
Posts: 3,668
+1 about avoiding Brick Lane. I had an ex-workmate rave about a little joint he knew their. Clip joint would be more like it. Trying to upsell the lamb chomps even though I told them 100 times I don't like lamb chops. Discounts promised at the door and then forgotten. Bills arriving before you finished eating. Ghastly food. Horrible service. Check out the reviews on tripadvisor. This place kept saying "fake review" but they soon had their comments removed.

I got taken to some posh place with a Michelin star in Mayfair a year ago. We ordered off menu as we had an Indian with us that had been there and loved the place. Honestly I thought it was nothing special.

If you are near Canary Wharf try Lime Restaurant. I've found the food there clean in flavour and good quality.
dddc is offline  
Old Feb 20, 2015, 3:52 pm
  #25  
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: UK
Programs: BA EC Gold
Posts: 9,236
Originally Posted by aceman
Brick lane is pretty lousy, but haven't been in years, if you are dragged there, negotiate a deal before you go in, I would insist on first round of drinks free and 20% off the bill.
I think this is not a good strategy. If you get a substantial reduction off of your bill and/or free drinks, expect far smaller portions and generally poor value for money. It's best to go with places without touts; anywhere that has to harrass you for your business is not worth the trouble.

Originally Posted by JohnnyColombia
Go to the restaurant where nobody is haggling you on the door. As a rule of thumb, I'd also avoid restaurants with recesses in the ceiling and blue lights.
Yes. And the places that try too hard to be "modern" and end up looking silly usually have much pricier menus to match their decor and sub-standard food.
ajax is offline  
Old Feb 24, 2015, 7:27 pm
  #26  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: RSE
Programs: AA Exp|VA Platinum
Posts: 15,480
Thanks for all the suggestions guys. It's really helpful.

Originally Posted by aceman
Consider Trishna in Marylebone for more high end seafood based indian, (sister restaurant to Gymkhana).
Someone was telling me about their meal there the other day. They were very impressed.^ I've always had this thing with seafood and curry, like they don't really belong together.

Originally Posted by dddc
If you are near Canary Wharf try Lime Restaurant. I've found the food there clean in flavour and good quality.
I used to work in Canary Wharf and our go to curry, for team lunches etc, was Mem Saheb. It was pretty good but it's been seven years since I lived in London, so it might have changed.
bensyd is offline  
Old Mar 1, 2015, 8:35 am
  #27  
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: UK
Programs: BA, U2+, SK, AF/KL, IHG, Hilton, others gathering dust...
Posts: 2,551
Originally Posted by Wingnut
A possibly out of date Tooting recommendation is http://www.sreekrishna.co.uk/ (a couple of years since I've been).
Coming to this thread a little late, but will chip in anyway...

While Sree Krishna is good, I prefer Radha Krishna Bhavan for South Indian, which is also closer to Tooting Broadway tube. Personal taste of course, but excellent dosas.

For a more centrally located S Indian, try Ragam at 57 Cleveland St in Fitzrovia. It's very small though, so can fill up quickly.

Recently had a good meal at Namaaste Kitchen in Camden. Service is reported to be a little variable (was fine when I was there), but food is very good.

Although the small local places are usually the best, I do also think that the Masala Zone chain does pretty decent food.
Oaxaca is offline  
Old Mar 1, 2015, 10:20 am
  #28  
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: UK
Programs: BA EC Gold
Posts: 9,236
Originally Posted by Oaxaca
Masala Zone


ajax is offline  
Old Mar 4, 2015, 11:21 am
  #29  
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Flatland
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold 1MM, BA Gold, UA Peon
Posts: 6,095
Originally Posted by Oaxaca

Although the small local places are usually the best, I do also think that the Masala Zone chain does pretty decent food.
I agree. I would probably choose some of the individual recommendations from above if near the area, but if wanting a general curry Masala Zone is pretty good.

A major advantage of Masala Zone is that they do not consider ghee to be the principal ingredient of a curry. I greatly dislike the incredibly greasy curries I've had in some people's "my favourite curry place" (including in such nominal curry hotspots as Bradford). I just don't want that high a fat intake.
flatlander is offline  
Old Mar 9, 2015, 5:49 pm
  #30  
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: SW WA
Posts: 3,876
Any recs for a Tayyab replacement for mixed grill? We were just there and the whole experience was just terrible. It's like they've grown way too big, and can't keep up. The mixed grill wasn't as good as it used to be, and it took 45+ minutes to get. They refused to bring us any other food that we had ordered first because they view the mixed grill as the "appetizer" even though they ultimately brought all food at once.

We also went to Gymkhana and thought that it was really, really good.
Buster is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.