Indali Lounge

I am not sure that I have ever heard the words “healthy” and “curry” used in the same sentence, except with the pre-noun modifier having “un” attached to it. Indali Lounge, as well as advertising itself as a place where some Big Brother party or other took place a while back, is very keen to tell you how healthy the curry here is.

I suppose one should be worried about health issues when eating, although the millions who gorge on transfat at McDonalds might disagree, but I want to know if the stuff tastes good. If it is healthy for me too, well that is a bonus.

The restaurant is set in a post war arcade of shops, flanked on one side by Galvin's Bistro Deluxe and on the other by the Royal China Club. There is even a little terrace on the pavement, although quite why anyone (even a smoker) would want to sit on the bus filled, four lane drag racing strip that is Baker Street is beyond me. Inside, the decor is muted, unlike the more garish Brick Lane establishments that I was brought up on. Service is a little hit and miss; things not being delivered, or coming late on, but it is so charming that it is hard to get too annoyed.

But what of the taste of this healthy curry? It is fine: the coconut crusted soft shell crabs being particularly tasty, but the sauces and especially the naan (which is blandish to start with) need that pepping up that butter and ghee give: the lamb biryani too was just not rich enough. If this were the only game around, it would be a perfectly fine destination. Alas, with the food at Trishna and Colony, each a mere chakram’s throw away, benefiting from ghee, butter and the added pep that they bring, my money will likely go elsewhere.

My husband and I are both very disappointed in the whole dining experience due to the reasons below:

1. The waitress did not write down our drinks order therefore had to come to ask us again which is not acceptable level of service from waiting staff.
2. We found the overall taste and quality of food to be poor, it lacked flavour and the mains were too salty. As it was birthday celebration, I had a champagne cocktail prior to the meal and a standard cocktail after and neither were good and were overpriced for what they tasted of.
3. When presented with the bill, we had to point out that as we booked online, the 20% offer of discount had not been applied and therefore the waiting staff had to reissue the bill with the correct amount – this is poor customer service and does not demonstrate a unique customer experience of being looked after.
4. After being given the correct bill, we had to wait over 15 minutes for waiting staff to process it. The restaurant was not busy, in fact only 5-6 tables were occupied and there were at least 4 waiting staff in the restaurant at the time therefore more than sufficient required for the tables occupied therefore incomprehensible as to why we had to wait for so long to pay our bill.

Apart from being disappointed and dissatisfied, we are shocked that a fine dining restaurant in the centre of London has left us with an appalling dining experience. My husband does not like to come into central London for dinner but as it was a special occasion, I managed to persuade him and now after the above experience, it will be very difficult to persuade him again to dine in a central London again.

I communicated the above experience to the restaurant by email 3 weeks ago and I have yet to receive a reply – again unacceptable customer relations.

I dined there for the first time last Friday lunchtime. Its a beautiful looking room – I would imagine it comes alive during weekend evenings. However food quality is poor – chicken/lamb kebabs tasted awful (like they were out of a packet). The nan served to us was too thick and raw in the middle. When I pointed this out to the waitress she had the audacity to question my judgement! The only slight redemption was the aloo chaat – which was at best average. Its a place that needs to improve in a host of ways, particularly with so much better competition in the immediate vicinity.

We arrived at 7.30pm and were greeted by the two very sweet ladies on reception and swiftly shown to the bar and ordered a cocktail. Both drinks were expertly made, delicious, really cold and tasted exactly how they should. The bar had a very relaxed feel to it and is a lovely way to start an evening at Indali Lounge.

Once asked we were whisked straight over to our table and the restaurant looked great, nearly full and buzzing with a nice group of people all enjoying their evening. Lots of the staff made an effort to say hello to us which was also very nice and a very good sign. Our waiter for the evening was an extremely knowledgeable chap and talked us through the menu and made sure we got everything promptly.

To start we chose really very well with a Chaat baked Aloo Tike, that was one of our best dishes and packed full of flavor and punch and again not at all low fat tasting but completely delicious. The Paneer Three Ways was also good, nice and hot which works well with this mellow cheese. Our final starter was a Bombay Chicken Samosa and when it arrived this had been substituted for a Samosa Deli for some reason although this was also good if a little mild after the much appreciated heat from the Paneer. We both really loved the Poppadoms and the completely addictive chutneys and yoghurt that go with them, I wish they were the same everywhere.

On to our main courses and again we ordered a very different type of meal to the last time with the exception of the butter chicken which we just had to have again and yet again this dish delivered. The Madras Soft-shell Crab Bhuna was a great dish with such defining textures and flavors but also subtle spices and flavors enhanced the delicate soft shell crab meat without over powering the dish. The Lobster Bombay Dreams is a luxuriously comforting combination of the sweet subtle meat infused with a lovely silky mildly spiced creamy sauce, very decadent and again hard to believe this is a very low fat dish. Our chili and garlic naan was sublime as before as was the well cooked rice and a wonderful side-dish of Indali Bhartha, sweet and spicy slow roasted aubergine with a good kick of ginger and chili.

Just writing this is making my mouth water and my stomach rumble but as always with Indali Lounge we left feeling none of the normal bloated feeling that one often gets with Indian food.

Indali Lounge is in a great location. The menu is extensive and offers a lot of choice. I tried the seafood and was impressed by how fresh and tasty it was.

The interior is stunning and it has a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Also the staff are great, they were always around when you wanted them but not hovering around by your table.

I will definitely be telling people about this place and going back again .