Tandoori Raj, Red Lion Street, Holborn

Poppadoms: 6/10

• Arrived without prompting, but only one and it was on the bill
• Slightly tired looking onion thing (and with cucumber, so I left it alone)
• Mango chutney tasted OK - not too sugary and nice and sour - but a bit runny so hard too eat on brittle poppadoms
• Lime and aubergine pickle - dry, salty, nice and spicy but a bit hard to eat due to saltiness and general lack of appeal of aubergine

Starter: "Raj Mix" 3/10

• Tiny onion bhaji
• Tiny little bit of lamb tikka
• Tiny little bit of chicken tikka
• Small, clearly from-a-packet, vegetable samosa

Main course: 7/10

• Balti lamb tikka bhuna - at 11.95 tied for the most expensive item on the menu. Taste good, meat very tender. Not a lot of balti (couple of little bits of onion and green pepper, small sprinkling of coriander)
• Came with really excellent naan - light, soft, brushed with butter

Sundry: 7/10

• Tarka dall - nice and sloppy (and a bit buttery, as advertised on the menu) with a bit of hotness, but a bit starchy, garlic raw rather than fried and no onion or mustard seeds

Liquid:

• Big bottle of kingfisher - hard to go wrong
• Noticed bottles of wine behind the bar with custom labels - classy or what?

Value for money: 3/10

• The above was passable enough but not worth 27 GBP exc service. Better food and more generous portions are available not far away at Euston.