Lahore Kebab House

According to many, this is the best "Asian" restaurant in London, so I was definitely looking forward to this.

Food

We decided to order a feast to share. But first, something to wash it down, so Mango Lassi (£3.5) and Sweet Lassi (£3.0) were in order. Pretty soon, our entrees arrived:

• Salad and Raita - really really nice sauce, fresh salad
• Paneer Tikka (£3) - cube cheese, done in the tandoor. Not much taste, a little sour, but definitely had a nice chewy texture
• Samosa vegetable (£1) - beautifully crisp and tender
• Seekh kebab (£1) - heavily and expertly spiced

We were still licking our fingers from the entrees when our possession of curries arrived:

• Rioni (Okra) curry (£5.50) - I love okra, and this was great. Somehow though, it just wasn't quite up there with the Janani version.
• Chicken Tikka Masala (£7) - a wonderfully complex sauce, not too hot and not too sweet.
• King Prawn Curry (£9.50) - my pick of the night. The prawns were not so generous, but when the sauce is this gorgeous, who cares.
• Nihari (Lamb Shanks) (£8.50) - this was one of their special limited availability item, and I am a sucker for lamb shanks afterall. The sauce was great again, but there was only 1 shank to be shared among 8, and it was not that tender either.
• Fish Curry - another excellent dish, the firm flesh of the fish holds the sauce very nicely.

We accompanied all these with the all important bread and rice:

• Plain Rice (£3) - uhh, plain?
• Plain Naan (£1) - nicely executed, not too oily, nice and fluffy. They do roll it fresh in front of you afterall.
• Butter Naan (£1.25) - too oily for my liking, but I guess if you order butter naan, you expect that.
• Garlic Naan (£1.50) - really strong garlic flavour.
• Peshhrawi Naan (£3) - I like this one. It's actually filled with a coconut paste/spread thing.
• Tandoori Paratha (£1.50) - thin and satisfying.

Needless to say, we were absolutely stuffed, and fully satisfied, after that feast.

Rating - 7.5

Atmosphere

This place was totally not what I had expected. A basic foodhall, in the manner of Janani it isn't. It's a big space alright, but it's filled with bright lights, big tables, and plasma screens showing your Bollywood movies. As you enter, you are confronted with the huge glass fronted kitchen, where you can watch several chefs tending to the tandoor, rolling out bread, and all other manners of drama. They also have upstairs as well, which I suspect would be much better if you are trying to have a conversation.

Rating - 1.5

Service

As it's a food hall, I actually didn't expect any service. However, someone comes to take your order, you pay at the table, and everything is all very efficient. Everyone here must be regulars as no one explained to us what anything on the menu meant, what the specials were and how many you get of each starter in a serving. I guess you just have to come a few times to find out.

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

For Indian and Pakistani food, it's very expensive, considering you can walk down Brick Lane and eat for half that price. The food is definitely top notch, so I will have to try all the ones in Brick Lane to compare before I can say if it's worth the money.

Rating - 0.5

Brownie Points - 12

Info

2 Umberston Street
London
E1 1PY
Phone +44 (0) 20 7488 2551