Curry on a budget! (Indian Restaurants in the City in general)

Member Name: Leolover

Product:	Indian Restaurants in the City in general
Date:	15/10/02 (353 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Decent food, very low prices, BYO Drinks

Disadvantages: Not the finest Indian food you'll ever taste

From the number of restaurant reviews I've been posting recently, you may have noticed that I've been eating out almost constantly for the past week. This is mainly due to a major project at work meaning that I'm working quite long hours, and by the time I get home I just can't be bothered to cook. Needless to say, enjoyable though it's all been, my wallet (and waistline!) have been suffering!

With my dwindling bank balance in mind, but still no real urge to hit the kitchen, this Saturday I decided to give a restaurant called Zara's kitchen, in Camberwell, a retry. I say a retry because I have actually tried it before, but I wasn't very well at the time and didn't really enjoy my meal because of this. I remembered the meal being very cheap and the fact that you can bring your own drinks is another big plus for the budget conscious.

Zara's Kitchen is a fairly large Indian restaurant in the heart of Camberwell, SE5. It's not particularly pretty from the outside, the tinted glass actually makes it look a bit dingy, but once inside it's bright, clean and fairly pleasant. It's a family run restaurant and the service is friendly and courteous, if not particularly prompt - we were kept waiting a while for our main course.

The menu is quite varied with a good selection of starters, including my favourite - daal bhajias, and a decent selection of main courses. The prices are especially refreshing if you're used to the extortionate cost of eating in London. Starters range from £1.10 - £2.50 and the most expensive main course (King Prawn Masalla) is only £5.00.

A selection from the menu :

Starters :

Dahl/onion/spinach Bhajias
Chicken/lamb tikka
Shish kebab
Vegetable pakora
Dahl soup

Main Courses :

Chicken/lamb Jalfrezi/Korma/Bhuna/Dhansak/Vindaloo
Keema Aloo (minced meat and potatoes)
Keema Mutter (minced meat with peas)


Vegetable Curry
King Prawn Masalla

My daal bhajias, spicy little lentil patties garnished with slices of lemon, were as delicious as I remembered them to be. My partner's sheek kebab was a good size and he said it was very tasty. The main courses were also good - my chicken dansak was hotter than I'm used to, but no less enjoyable for it, and my partners lamb bhuna had a lovely thick sauce and smelt fantastic.

The one disappointment for me was the naan bread. I like a nice, thick chargrilled naan with lots of lovely black burnt bits, but this was pale and flaccid, although liberally sprinkled with garlic.

Zara's Kitchen has a BYO (bring your own) drinks policy, so we took a bottle of wine along, but you can order soft drinks, teas and coffees if you wish.

And the price? £17.00 for two. A real bargain.

One last tip - make sure you have enough cash or take your cheque book along, as they don?t accept card payments.

Address : Zara's Kitchen, 15 Camberwell Church st, London SE5 8TR
0207 252 4587

Summary: