ROYAL INDIA
Overture:
The Royal India is a family run restaurant situated in the heart of Covent Garden, catering Opera lovers for Decades.
The decor resembles a Torquay hotel rather than a restaurant!
We are greeted by a friendly Basil Fawlty host who informs us that the place has had 5 different owners in its long history.
Act I
The menu is a no frills affair; probably last updated in 1987 and reminds me of a Marshall amp catalogue!
Papadums are fresh and tasty.
The Bhajis are definitely the B side to a hit single; not bad but quite average.
Act II:
By this point in the evening, they had started playing selections of Deutsche grammophon’s finest back catalogue of string quartet recordings to complete the Fawlty Towers experience!
The Saag Chicken and interestingly named Railway Lamb were both rather pleasant.
Nothing offensive here, Gentle flavors for gentle folks! Meat tender, perfect for granny to chew with her false teeth!
My trip to the conveniences was spoiled by addict hand dryers! A definite competitor for the worst!
Act III - The Verdict:
Quite a good experience with friendly waiters and decent food. Nothing special though. Take your grandma!!
Likely to dine here:
Miss Tibbs, Miss Gatsby and Major Gowen.
Directions:
Royal India
3 Endell St
London WC2H 9EL
Nearest Tube : Covent Garden
MANGO INDIAN
First Impressions :
It was around 9:45 on a Sunday evening when Underdog and myself finally arrived at Mango Indian. The slightly later arrival had been because of inaccurate information from Google. My first choice of restaurant for the evening had been a place called Simply Indian. After walking for over 10 minutes, the conclusion was met that this restaurant didn't exist anymore! Our late arrival meant that the service was impeccable, mainly because they wanted to kick us out by 11!
The decor is very modern and I particularly enjoyed the huge glass windows that gave the room a spacious feel. Throughout your meal you can enjoy the sounds of horrible late 90's pop/cod Indian house Muzak! Beware, if you are a fan of Chopin, you might be offended by the Frankenstein techno version of one of his Nocturnes I heard blaring out!!!
Starters:
The Papadums arrive and are cut into bite size portions, perfect for sharing! An amazing selection of sauces and dips accompany these. The Bhajis are definitely above average! cooked well, but need some spice to put them in the Miles Smiles category. For lovers of Grant Green maybe...
Mains:
The theme of the restaurant is sharing; the perfectly cut Naan and plentiful portions of rice are a testament to this.
If you make a mess at any time during the meal then don't worry, this establishment has the world's largest and heaviest Napkins! This napkin would easily cope with the aftermath of one of Caligula's Roman orgies!
I would definitely recommend the Chicken Xacuti here. Tender meat, and strong earthy flavors. The Lamb Lall Mass is a dish I'm not familiar with. The lamb itself was first rate. The sauce it was cooked in however really didn't compliment the Meat. The Chicken had just the right amount of spice but again, although I love Grant Green we were in that territory once more with the spice level of the Lamb!
It's worth making a note here, that the Cobra beer was served In a special commemorative glass. My glass depicted the Citroen 2CV car chase from the James Bond movie, for your eyes only! The glass also had an inscription from film composer Bill Conti on the side. The waiter informed me he wasn't a fan of James Bond but much preferred the fast and the furious franchise....
Nothing to note about the hand dryers here other than they work! Chocolate mints were offered but no hot towels.
The Verdict :
A moderately expensive restaurant with good service and quality food. It lacks that X factor to make it special however.
Likely to dine here:
Tom Cruise and Bananarama.
Review from Underdog Millionaire :
Daniel Craig would eat at this swish Indian but not Sean Connery, with it's showy but comfortable modern interior. We are shown to our table on condition that we don’t hang-around –it’s perilously near to closing-time but we are treated very hospitably considering the waiters are eager to get home. We dig into soft shards of Papadums to the sounds of a tandooried Knight Rider theme and spoonfuls of pickles. The Welsh girls in the corner are friendly but they demonstrate little knowledge of the James Bond franchise.
As I dab at what remains of a decent Chicken Xacuti with an overly starched napkin, I can report the food here ain’t too shabby. Both curries were on the spicy side for my taste –if monotonous in their earthiness- but the meat was tender. I can recommend eating here, I would have given them a star rating except the sauces of the separate dishes were suspiciously similar as though all the curries are adapted from a huge vat. Bhajis here are well executed if unremarkable.
Directions:
Mango Indian
Cromwell Building, 6 Redcross Way, London SE1 9HR
Nearest Tube : London Bridge
BANGALORE EXPRESS
First Impressions :
It looks like a chain but is it?
The decor pretends to be classy, it's just a facade though, as most of it is probably plastic... and on closer inspection, you are dining in the California pizza kitchen rather than the Savoy!
You get a choice of booths or tables, which is a nice touch... we return to a chain theme with the brightly, laminated cheesecake factory menu.
The amount of information and choice on the menu is far too much for my Neanderthal like brain to take in! Theyhave a quirky meals section! However, this consists of chips and Caribbean food!
It's not really clear what you get when you order, so here we go...
Starters:
It is against the law in this restaurant to get any Papadums as starters; you can argue all you want, these only come with the main!
The Bhajis here are only for the sea dog; far too salty for my taste. They are also plentiful. You are presented with a selection of mini Bhajis, which are the only thing on the menu suitable for sharing.
19.7 out of 37 for the many many Bhajis!
Mains:
These are delivered on a traditional Indian thali or a plate with tiny containers,...so the same thing really! Not so good for sharing.
I didn't enjoy the Papadums with the main, and the chef had already taken the liberty of squirting his own special sauce over them!
The portions here are huge! You get bread with the meal so don't make the mistake of ordering extra bread unless you are Augustus Gloop!
I really enjoyed the Srilanken spicy chicken here, great flavors. The Lamb Bhuna was very tender but had a slightly bland sauce. Great mystery potato dish on the side as well!
On your convenience visit, you can enjoy the blast of two different hand dryers!
399 extra points for a free replacement beer that was knocked over!
No mints or hot towels are offered here.
The Verdict :
Quality food but too much 'concept' and fiddle faddle for me!
Likely to dine here :
The New York Jets and Mick Jagger
Directions :
Bangalore Express
1, Corbet Court, 3-6 Gracechurch St, London EC3V 0AT
Nearest Tube : Bank/ Monument