12 Charlotte St, Fitzrovia, London W1T 2LU. 30th October 2016
We’d been meaning to try this restaurant for a few months, and Charlie McHarper got around finally to organising something. We met in the Dev as usual and headed down to the restaurant around 6ish.
There was fair turnout, and we thought it would be OK to get a table for 13 or so of us. The restaurant was empty when we arrived, and there was a booking later for a large group, but the staff rejigged and gave us the larger table and accommodated us.
We ordered drinks, and starters – all of which was tasty and well cooked and presented. The mains were a good size and also really tasty. The place filled to bursting whilst we were there, and they handled it all with a great sense of professionalism and pride – nothing phased them.
Overall was a round of 8s and 9s. The staff were great, the ambience was good and relaxed.
Can’t remember much about this place – we met up at the Wetherspoons for a couple of beers and then went up to the restaurant. There was a decent sized turnout from what I recall, and the food average and not that cheap.
The service, however, was poor – Mark Licker’s daughter was choking and we asked for water, the staff just either didn’t understand or didn’t care and carried on (VERY SLOWLY) picking up dishes and moving like a sloth.
Don’t think any of us would be back any time soon.
This restaurant has been recently opened, moving from Chapel Market near Angel tube station. For once we didn’t wait until the last minute and the actually planned it 5 days in advance!
People met up, but not all together for once, and headed off to the restaurant, with some discoveries on the way!
Personally, I was late to the place and missed the starters.
The restaurant is well laid out, spacious and well decorated. When I arrived and met the rest, it was confirmed that it was a bring-your-own place, and nipped just a few doors down to the offie.
As people were finishing their starters, the conversation took the usual turn with laughs, jokes and memories.
Main courses were ordered, and where there was options (lemon or tomato based, English or Indian version) the staff were patient, explaining and joking along. The usual wide variety of dishes were ordered.
Myself personally had the vegetable jalfrezi, side order of chana masala and shared some rice. It was nice to have whole chillies in the curry and a good spice level.
Towards the end, the conversation with the staff got onto ourselves, and Charlie McHarper told them about PRCC, and they even took photos and put them on their own Facebook page 🙂
Overall people were really impressed with the experience. Most of the people who had starters were really happy also. Good food, good prices (takeaway menu here, bring-your-own, really good atmosphere, relaxed and informal. Most gave it a 9/10, with one 8.
Another famous last minute decision, as we could not decide which gig to go to – The Unicorn or T-Chances. We chose The Unicorn as it was free and easier to travel to and from for most of us.
The day before we popped in and checked if they had vegan and dairy-free versions, and they were happy to say they did.
On the day we met in the Dev as per usual and had a short stroll up. They hadn’t quite opened, “Give us half an hour” they said, and also indicated we can bring our own booze. So we went across the road to Slattery’s Irish bar for a pint and then to the off-licence on the way back.
For some reason we started off nipple tweaking….
But soon settled down to the usual banter and bollox.
The onion bhajis (being the staple comparison) were ordered, I had samosas which where heavy on the pastry and bland on the taste. Much was said of the bhajis – looked too much like store-bought and with ground filler flour rather than just onion and a few spices and such – a bit bland.
Jen said of her meal: “I really, realy liked what we had. I love palak paneer (mostly called saag paneer here) and theirs was really good. Tasted more old fashioned over all. The way I remember it when I first came over in the 90s. More subtle flavours and no feeling at all of MSG which always makes me feel drugged and heavy. Really clean tasting.”
My main, the vegetable madras, was very medium and a bit disappointing, the chicken madras had a hotter sauce.
Others seemed fairly satisfied with the meal – it was nothing exceptional – and the prices were good and the service friendly. The BYOB was a nice touch as they are licensed as well.
Overall I think most people would give it a 7/10 – not brilliant but OK.
1 Brecknock Road, London. N7 0BL. Sunday, 27th March
A late decision, this time out… we were looking for a venue close to the Poison Idea gig at the Underworld in Camden. We looked around but could not find anything really good, we tried Maharani on Camden High Road, but it was a bit greasy and overpriced; so we fell back to the regular Bangalore Brasserie.
As before, we met at the Unicorn pub next door to the restaurant around 5ish, and had a beer waiting for the restaurant to open. As it was Easter weekend, and quite a few had other plans there was only 5 of us this time. We went in around a quarter to six, and we were the only ones there as it was so early.
Cobras and coca-cola ordered, we chatted amongst ourselves and had a muted (compared to previous outings!) time out.
The usual onion bhajis and I tried the vegetable kebabs. The bhajis were up to the usual high quality so people said, and the kebabs were a six out of ten, but worth a try at least.
Main courses were ordered, a couple of madras dishes, sag aloo, rice, naan, roti, a korma, a pathia and a tikka masala. Everyone was happy with their meals and the portions were decent enough to fill us up. We could actually finish our dishes today which was good – no wasted food this time!
The service was a bit slow at first, but picked up once the tasks of opening up and getting ready was finished. The younger staff member was the only one on the floor whilst we were there and was cheerful and smiling a lot – calling everyone “Michael Jackson” when delivering or removing plates and such – a fairly weird twist but fun nonetheless.
Overall, it didn’t blow us away as previously, maybe we’re getting spoiled with recent outings! Bill including beers with tips came to about £15 a head as usual.
Overall an 8 out of 10, the ambience was missing this time as it was early in the evening.
24 York Rise, Dartmouth Park, NW5 1ST. 28th February 2016
It was the Sunday of Another Winter Of Discontent festival at the Boston Music Rooms / The Dome, so perfect chance for another get together and curry.
We had decided on a curry house about 10 mins walk around the corner, Monsoon, and a few of us had gave it a test run the Monday before, and it’s a Bring Your Own place too (website here)
As usual with meet-ups in that area we meet in the Boston Arms pub, a few guys were over from Belfast for the festival so our numbers swelled to 16!
Meeting in the Boston Arms
That awkward moment when three dicks wear the same t-shirt….
Same t-shirt? Who’s going home to change!
We had a few beers and then headed off to the offie and the restaurant.
Monsoon Front
We filed into the just-opened restaurant, in 2s and 4s, filling up about two-thirds of the place, and started on the poppadoms, raita and perusing the menu (check out the prices etc. here)
There was a good amount of poppadoms and enough time to go through the menu. We ordered and waited for the food to get cooked and served.
A few others came in, a young family of four, a couple of couples, and they filled what was left of the restaurant. We carried on drinking and having fun, but in a generally respectful way – don’t want to give ourselves a bad reputation, now do we? :p
As this was a couple of weeks ago, I can’t remember what the hell I had to eat – I think I had the chana puri starter – yeah I did, it was MASSIVE; and vegetable madras with chana masala and shared some rice.
A huge assortment of dishes were ordered, and I don’t think anyone could finish – Pat and Jen went home with about 8 portions in a carrier bag!
The bill came to £15 each including generous tips… would have been a lot less if our eyes were not too big for our bellies and we actually managed to finish all the food – thing to remember for next time!
We even got free ice-cream at the end!
Afterwards we kinda rolled back to the venue for more silliness…
Everyone had a great time out, great reviews from everyone regarding the food and the night, here’s some quotes off our Facebook group:
The morning after the night before…. What a grand occasion it was last night.
Well enjoyed it. Great food, good craic. Suffered some raging anus revenge this morning, wether that be me not being too orthodox with the heavenly power of the Holy Madras, or the mix of Peculiar IPA, Corona, Cobra and Guiness god only knows.
After the banter last night, should we not be called The North of Ireland Punk Rock Curry Club?
Bout ye
Thanks for the invite …it was so good to meet yas and catch up with aule chums :)) …really enjoyed the grub an the crack! :)) xx
10/10 all round from me.
And me.
9/10 from me
couldn’t finish me nosh, not bad though good portions, had a curry coma
Was well yum :))
Great company, food and craic, couldn’t fault it. Portions were enormous and all for 15 nicker a head! Oh and the free ice cream was a nice touch 10/10
14 Westbourne Rd, London N7 8AU, 24th January 2016
We had originally decided to meet up at the Wig and Gown on Holloway Road, but as it was an Arsenal home game, it was home ticket-holders only in there, so we met in the Wetherspoons around the corner for a quick beer and to round up the usual miscreants. Ten of us eventually drifted in, so we trotted around the corner to the restaurant.
Memsaab is fairly large and well laid out, bright and airy with a large fish tank in the middle of the restaurant. A family run business, it’s only been open for 18 months or so, and they’ve spent a fair amount on decor and a lot of the small details.
We were seated, taking up a whole side of the restaurant and started on the popadoms and raita. Hard to get these wrong really, but some do. They have their own tomato / onion dip which is really nice and an unexpected difference.
Ordering was done – almost everyone going for onion bhajis (we’re getting really obvious with this choice), and an assortment of mains, rice, bread and sides.
Beers come in either bottles (330ml or 660ml) or pints (nice to have the option) and they even have a cider, which is uncommon! There’s the usual assortment of soft drinks and tea and coffee as well. Prices are standard pub prices.
The food was good – very good – although it took some time for all 10 of us to get our dishes cooked and delivered so a couple of us had lukewarm / not as hot as expected food. There’s the usual assortment of dishes and some chef’s specials and dishes that you don’t get to see very often.
Overall an 8/10 by most people; really only losing points for the time taken to cook so many dishes and a couple of people having lukewarm food. The price was pretty standard as well – 2 or 3 beers each, starter, main, side, rice, etc., including tips about £30 each.
92-93 Chapel Market, London. N1 9EX., 20th December 2015
We had an early curry here, as The Damned were playing just around the corner. A few of us met up around before to watch the footie in The Boston Arms, Tufnell Park and then jumped on a bus to Angel, Islington. We started collecting people together in a Wetherspoons, there was a fair few of us this time (12 in all) because of the gig so close, and headed off around the corner to the eat-all-you-can buffet.
The decor inside is … unique … every wall covered in pro-Vegetarianism propoganda (not a bad thing, it’s mostly accurate) and huge posters. The staff were minimal, just let us do our own thing and left us alone.
It’s a BYOB so no overpriced drinks or beers, and pretty laid back. Standard tables set out diner style and nothing fancy at all.
During the afternoon we had a couple of surprising visitors; Charlie Harper (UK Subs) popped in and took a table with a few people, and Captain Sensible (The Damned) dropped by for a take-away. He looked a bit surprised to be recognised by so many people 🙂
As it was a buffet, there wasn’t the huge array of choices you normally get on a menu – a couple of types of bread, a couple of types of rice. There were 6 or 8 containers of warmed food ranging from watery soup consistency through to what appears to be mashed potato or similar. No real labels or identification of what the contents were that I could see. The quality of the food was OK, it’s mild to mid spicy, but there’s plenty of it.
At £6.50 per person it’s not bad, and decent value. Overall people were happy and gave it around a 7 out of 10.
After the debacle of the previous PRCC, we (well, Gonk) flipped a coin for the next venue and informed people a good week in advance. We had a decent turn-out and a few hangers-on to boot – the more the merrier!
We met up in the Boston Arms around half past six and then had a couple of pints whilst waiting for others to drift in. From the club proper there was Jack, Gary, Gonk and myself; the others included Kylie, Dick Sacs, Graham and Pus.
We walked the 20 yards or so from the pub to the restaurant, which was just under half full, and got three tables pushed together in an area near the door. The decor was well lit, high ceilings, well upholstered chairs etc. A better than average standard.
The menu has all the standard and basics you’d expect in most curry houses (have a look here), but the best thing was a special on the board – £9.95 for a starter, main, rice and bread – it wasn’t everything on the menu, but a huge percentage of it!
We all went for the deal – it would be stupid not to – and beers and wine was ordered. As we sat waiting the usual banter around the table started, and a couple of the staff, all good natured and relaxed. Nearly everyone had onion bhajis for starter, I tried the aloo (something, I can’t recall exactly). Good reception all round – the bhajis were compared equally with Bangalore Brasserie’s mammoth bhajis, but instead of 2 huge bhajis, The Spice did 4 smaller ones. The potato starter was good also.
The mains arrived with rice and bread. Good sized portions of all and again everyone was pleased with the quality and quantity of ingredients.
The atmosphere was relaxed and jovial – from the table as well as the staff and patrons, everyone seemed to be enjoying the meal and company they had – a fair few people filed in during the night. We paid up and got a free shot of port at the end of the meal – nice touch.
Prices with beers came to about £135, so we threw in £20 each as we couldn’t be arsed to mess around, and people were happy with that.
680 Holloway Rd, London, Archway N19 3NP. Sunday, 18th October
Charlie McHarper booked a table there for us at 8pm for a few of us. Four of us turned up as there was a mess-up on arranging and half the usual reprobates went elsewhere.
The restaurant was really quiet, like really quiet. We were the only people in there! Large and fairly bright. We got shown to our table – way at the back to find out they weren’t ready for us at all – obviously the booking had been forgotten about.
We ordered – a fairly standard menu (link here) and fairly standard prices.
As this was a month ago I’ve been too busy to write it up and I forgot all the details – like a twat.
From what I remember it was pretty solid 8/10 from the four of us that went: Jack, Gary, Charlie McHarper and myself; but with a couple of annoying things like the food being served before cutlery or crockery on the table, Charlie’s fish was a bit tough but everything tasted really good. The portions were generous and the beer was decently priced as well.
