Needoo Grill

I had my first Whitechapel curry experience recently, at Needoo Grill, not the nearby and much lauded Tayyabs.  Reason being, it came highly recommended to me, I had clear instructions about what to have and I wasn't disappointed.

We did have to queue for around 20 minutes on the Wednesday night that we visited but it moves quickly and gives you a chance to peruse the menu, in all its laminated and sticky glory.  There's an open kitchen at the front, with a few tables and a larger dining room to the rear up some steps.  Tables are turned swiftly and the whole place is full of intoxicating smoky fumes, giving you an idea of the quality of the Punjabi dishes to come.

We began with the mixed grill, lamb chops, chicken tikka and grilled lamb seekh kebabs.  All were excellent.  Served on a sizzling hot plate with grilled onions and a large wedge of lemon. 

Also served early are the brilliant house chutneys, each nice and hot with poppadums, plain and spiced, and a green salad.

Onto mains and we both opted for karahi, gosht (lamb) and chicken.  Both were amazing, deeply spiced, richly flavoured with a good thick layer of oil on the top.  Karahi being the type of pan used to cook the dish, round and thick bottomed, the sauce is tomato and chilli based and was pleasingly fiery.

We also ordered garlic naans and rice, and tap water to drink.  There was a lot of food for 2 people and I felt so full by the end of the evening.  Perhaps the best thing is the price of such a great meal being so reasonable.  We paid around £30 with service. 

Loved Needoo Grill as much as I'd expected to and hope to return very soon.  But I absolutely must get to Tayyabs first.

Needoo Grill
87 New Road
Whitechapel
E1
8.5/10

Delhi Grill, Angel

So, I've just moved to Angel and now I'm only 5 minutes away from Delhi Grill, hurrah!  This was not the sole reason for the move, but was a definite plus.  Having eaten here on a Saturday night in May, I cannot wait to head back and work my way through the rest of the menu, and it's BYO.

We started with some poppadoms and chutneys, many of which were new to me and exciting to try.  From the left, mint raitha, mango chutney, red lentil and beetroot.  All great.

To start I opted for the paneer kebabs, best paneer I've ever had hands down.  Nicely charred and sizzling on the hot plate with a generous serving of tomato and onions for only £3.25.  Crappy picture due to the smoke still emitting from the hot plate.

For my main I went for the lamb rogan gosht which was rich and satisfying though I didn't detect much of a lamb flavour to the meat.  This dish is slow cooked for 2 hours and the meat, as a result, is amazingly tender.

Everybody had a starter and a main, we also shared a very light and fluffy naan, a roti and some rice, 2 of us drank beers and 2 of us soft drinks (me an excellent mango lassi) and the bill came to less than £70 in total. Rarely in London can 4 people eat so cheaply and so well for so little.  The one gripe I have is that the food is all served at once, the mains arrived when we'd barely touched the starters, and there wasn't enough room for it all on the table.  What's the hurry guys?

Think I'll be venturing down at lunchtime too, to grab a wrap from their mobile van which is parked daily on Chapel Market, feeding the lunching hordes.

Delhi Grill
21 Chapel Market
N1
8/10

Holy Cow

Waiting for a bus on a rainy Sunday I noticed a new addition to the street I live on, Holy Cow promising fine Indian Food and I made a mental note to try them for size when my next curry craving reared its head.

Fast forward a couple of weeks, extremely hungover, nothing but the carb heavy hit provided by an Indian takeaway would do the job. I had a bit of trouble finding the number, the website has not yet been updated to show the Archway branch details, but a couple of calls and it was sorted.

We ordered the modi squid to start which was nicely if subtly marinated in unidentified spices. They were deep fried but were not too fatty or soggy. A solid start.

I ordered the 'Raj recommended' murg jaiselmer - chicken cooked dopiaza style with nuts, fresh coriander, capsicum, onion, and cream. The chicken is certainly the best quality I've ever had in curry form and the sauce with rich and satisfying.


Where my curry provided a mild spice, Thomas' murg magalore gave a more than welcome hefty kick and we both agreed Holy Cow will become our new regular takeaway place, relegating the nearby Tiffin Tin to second spot.

Sides, also superior in quality to what we're used to, included garlic naans, poppadums, plain rice (helpfully they do a serving for 2 which is not 2 x portions for 1, there's always rice leftover in our house) and lassis, mango and coconut both, were good, refreshing and soothing, the ideal accompaniment.


Heck, even Ainsley likes Holy Cow, but don't let that put you off. There are various locations across London and they seem to be expanding fairly rapidly. I wish them well.

Holy Cow
Junction Road,
Archway
N19

7/10

Beef Rendang

I made beef rendang last week having seen this and this post about the Dinner Diary and Food Urchin versions and also seeing Rick Stein make it on his Far Eastern Odyssey.

It's a labour of love really, roasting the seeds, making the paste, browning the meat, then waiting.....even for more than 24 hours in some cases though sadly I lack the patience when it come to food to leave anything for more than the required cooking time. This was made and eaten on the same day, served wirth brown rice and a wedge of lemon. It was deeply flavoured and spicy, 5 chillis, seeds and all went into the paste but this is certainly about heat. The amounts here served 2 of us, for lunch and dinner but we are very greedy. I effectively doubled Kerri and Stephen's recipe adding a little more here and there.


For the curry paste:

1 tbsp coriander seed
1 tbsp ground turmeric
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 sticks lemongrass
6 garlic cloves
5 red chillis
2 onions
zest of 1 lime
thumbsize piece of ginger root

1 kg braising beef
2 tins coconut milk
2 tbs vegetable oil
3 tsp sugar
2 tsp tamarind paste
Salt
zest and juice of half a lemon

So I started by toasting the seeds for a few minutes then whizzing together in my handy little chopper all the indredients for the paste.

Then add the oil to a large pan and brown the meat. Once all sides are browned, add the paste, the lemon zest, the tamarind paste, salt and 3/4s of the coconut milk. Allow this to cook on a low heat for 2 hours. Adding a little more coconut milk if necessary and at the last minute add the lemon juice.

The consistency should be thick and mud like. This is where it benefits from leaving in the fridge overnight. Serve with rice, fresh sliced red chilli, coriander and a wedge of lemon.

Tamarind and Paps

On Monday night i was in Mayfair for an anniversary dinner at Tamarind on Queen St. On the same night Brad and Angelina were in town at the nearby Curzon cinema for a private screening of her new offering 'The Changeling'. There has been mention of an Oscar nomination come January for Angelina following the Academy's snub last year for her role in 'A Mighty Heart'. So, that explains the presence of the paparazzi lurking on the street corner.

I had earlier in the day been pleased to discover Tamarind offers a set menu for early diners making this michelin starred Indian restaurant accessible to all for a reasonable £28.00 for 2 courses including a bottle of wine!

However, upon requesting the set menu the waiting staff offered only the £50 and £70 options of 3 or 4 courses. The reluctance to acknowledge something which is clearly offered on their website is disappointing. In addition upon telephoning to book a table for 6:45 we were told in no uncertain terms that there was no availability after 6:30. So, 6:30 it was, puzzling when the restaurant was barely 1/3 full all evening.

Anyway, the matter of the food, it was certainly superior to the average fare one can expect from their trusty local takeaway but is it really worth three times the price? Plus wine, plus service? I'd have to say no. Sure it was the best nan bread I have ever had, and curry houses do not generally offer scallops on the menu but in all I would say stick to your local.

I always find the service in Indian restaurants to be above average however this in itself seems strangely not in keeping with the comfort eating ethos of hearty indian cooking. This, I suppose is the image they are attempting to move away from, and are indeed succeeding if this is their aim. I shall be sticking with the Tiffin Tin, Tufnell Park when seeking out that spicy indulgence for the forseeable future.

7/10