India Club, Strand Continental Hotel, The Strand

An impressively shabby-looking hotel (actually it isn't clear whether the place still operates as an hotel) on the East end of the Strand contains the India Club and restaurant.

The restaurant is a lino-floored, formica-tabled room which resembles quite closely NAAFI bar. Last time I was there the place looked like a building site. This time it had been tidied up a bit but if it has been improved at all, I cannot imagine what it was like before. It's clean but otherwise no expense has been spared spent.

The menu is pretty short, but has many of the usuals. We order some poppadoms and lemon pickle and chilli bhajis to start. The poppadoms are a bit overdone. The lemon pickle is pretty good. And there's a sort of curd thing which might be yoghurt-based with some coconut. It is tolerable on dry poppadoms but not really my sort of thing. The chilli bhajis are medium-sized chillies grilled a bit then batter fried. The batter is a bit thick and doughy rather than crispy, which is a shame. They are pretty pokey though.

Since it's lunch on a work-day I can't have beer. (I do hope one day to go back to working somewhere where the four-pint lunchtime is a-OK, but the trading floor is an unsympathetic place to be pissed.) In fact it wouldn't have been a problem anyway, as this is a BYO sort of place. I order a lassi, but they are "not ready yet" at 2pm. So we stick with the big jug of tap-water on the table.

For actual food we order a lamb madras and a chicken dopiaza with pilau rice. The lamb is lean meat in a dark, rich, hot (but not painful) sauce with, a bit incongrously, onions and green peppers. The chicken is a bit tough, in a light, buttery sauce with onions and peppers. The rice is a bit overdone.

Total bill for two is about 20 quid ex. tip, which seems good value.

It's quite an odd place. After two decidedly ordinary visits I have been left with the feeling that I missed something and that it should have been great. The general shabbiness is quite fun but you might expect a cult place like this to have mastered rice, poppadoms and fried stuff.

NB: No photos or links here because the interweb doesn't really seem to admit that this place exists.

Khas Tandoori, Newington Green Road

Another random evening curry. Despite the wonky picture I've lifted from the web, the Khas has a light, modern décor. It's not particularly recent but hasn't become shabby as cheaply done up curry houses with pretentions tend to. There is music playing which is a bearable sort of Indian-themed ambient electronica, but a bit too loud.

A poppadom and some chutneys are brought when I sit down, but the chutney tray didn't have chilli or lime pickle.

The menu is pretty broad with some unusual things in the "Authentic Delicacies" section and a separate list of "Chef's Delights". Of course they might just be the usual stuff given a different name and vague description — for example, "Zale Zule Chicken (a fairly hot dish from south india)".

My sweet lassi is very good. Not too thick, thin, sweet or dry. They are easy to do, but somehow mine always end up rubbish.

I start with a reshmi kebab which is actually pretty good. The meat is lightly spiced but fried to an almost crunchy texture. There doesn't seem to be any onion or other filler. The two patties are wrapped together in a fried egg ("over easy" to the seppos, ie. lightly-beaten). It comes with a small pot of a dark red, almost purple, sauce, which doesn't seem really to taste of anything.

For my main course, the Achari Gosth Chana ("marinated lamb cooked in a fairly spicy mixed pickle sauce with chickpeas"). It was actually lamb tikka meat in a thick sauce with chickpeas. It was the disapppointment of my visit really. The meat, though lean, was very tough, and the sauce wasn't great though every now and then one could detect a bit of mustard, which was interesting.

Since I am on a lamb theme it seems, I accompany it with Keema Pilau, which is actually really good. Perhaps it's just the Scot in me, but mince with some kind of starchy staple is a great thing¹.

Service was OK, but it took me about 20 minutes from asking for the bill to paying up and leaving. The bill, at under 15 quid is very good value, but I see from the back of the takeaway menu that I should have been able to claim "1 starter, 1 main dish, 1 side dish, 1 nan or rice & 1 papadom" for only 8.95 Tuesday-Thursday, with my lassi an extra 2 quid).

The Khas is next door to the Lucknow Tandoori which I ate at about 18 months ago and don't remember being impressed by.

¹. Recipe: Keema aloo (or "spicy stovies") is a delicious, cheap, piss-easy dish to have on its own or as a side with some other curries. Heat some oil, add some cardamoms, fry a bit of garlic paste and a bunch of ginger paste, add a bit of turmeric and chuck in some mince (lamb mince by preference) and sliced chillies. Fry for a few minutes, then add some peeled potatoes cut into inch-sized cubes. Fry them for a bit, then top up with water and cook until the potatoes are cooked and all the water has been absorbed. Ta-da. If you are making other curries, chuck in some random stuff from the spice rack to make it a different colour from the other things. Your guests will be amazed that you are able to make curries which look and taste different.

Camden Tandoori Curry House, Camden Road

Stopped in for a sneaky Friday night curry at this place. Arriving at 7pm I am the only (probably first) customer. Later on a couple of people come for takeaway.

On the outside it's a very ordinary-looking side-street curry shop, though often with special offer banners. Apparently at lunchtime on Sunday you can get a whole tandoori chicken for a fiver. Inside there are nasty artexed walls about the colour of a raspberry milkshake, but otherwise it's bearable.

I order a couple of poppadoms and a sweet lassi to get me through the menu-examining process. The poppadoms arrive still hot from the frier, and come with pretty good lime pickle and the rest of the usual stuff. The lassi is excellent: sweet/sour, dry/creamy in just the right proprotions.

To start I have a reshmi kebab, which arrvies as a fairly spicy patty of bright red keema (they do not skimp on the food dye here) in a thin omelette. It's pretty good.

Since the sign outside really does announce a "tandoori curry house" I have the balti lamb tikka for my main, with pilau rice and a garlic-stuffer naan. It's a big disappointment: the meat is lean and well-cooked (and dyed bright red), in a thick, dark sauce which looks OK but doesn't taste of anything at all. It's not just bland but somehow completely neutral.

The rice is fine and the naan is passable, if a bit heavy, but the centrepiece is utterly pointless.

The service was fine and the bill, at a little over 20 quid including service was just abut OK. Despite the poor curry, somehow I took a liking to the place, so I might be back to see if they can do any better.

Euro Tandoori, Gray's Inn Road

Second visit to this place. The first was rather better.

The place is mid-refit; most of the surfaces, furniture, &c. are new but there are a few alarming wires sticking out of the wall waiting for lights to be fitted.

I start with the Euro Grill which should be a meaty extravaganza; a bit of lamb tikka, bit of chicken tikka, half a sheekh kebab and an onion bhaji. It's OK but a bit disappointing. Mrs. S. has the "cheese samosa" which turns out to be two small ready-made samosas.

Then I have the ginger murgh, and she has the kind prawn kashmiri. Both are orange and heavy with what I am confident must be generic curry powder. No subtlety and it doesn't taste very good either. Very poor.