Babur

I do not normally like to have Indian food, but I keep going back to it as the foods are so good there!! I love the way how they combine the herb into food…

I went here after reading favourable reviews only to be disappointed. The menu although imaginitive didn't deliver-waiter recomended the buffalo curry which tasted like low grade beef-the bill for two was about £100 which included cocktails-upon paying the waiter suggested that we take up their offer of a loyalty card that would entitle us to a 5% discount on future visits,but that there was a charge of £5 for this privelige-shall not return.

Having had my eyes opened to contemporary Indian cuisine courtesy of my wife demanding to be taken to Benares for her birthday, an old friend suggested I give Babur a try. I don't mind travelling a little way for an exceptional meal, and with the East London line extension I was able to get to Honor Oak Park from north of the river easily enough (and it's no Darlington, which I have done for a meal in the past). We went quite early, as I'd discovered they have a 50% discount outside of their rush hours (the manager called it their decongestion deal) and as such it was quite quiet, but picked up a buzz towards the end of our visit (we're thinking we might go later next time and sample the atmosphere a bit more).

It has the look and feel of a more uptown establishment, with a daring cocktail menu to match (I loved the Currytini!) but with a more approachable service manner – which was good, as they'd just launched a menu celebrating the seafood dishes of the East Coast of India, to be followed by one celebrating the West coast the following month and I have to admit I wasn't overly familiar with all of the dishes. I really enjoyed chatting with the staff about dishes and fish that were new to me, and was more than happy to take a couple of recommendations which turned out to be real eye and tastebud openers!

I think the best dish for me was the mussels in a coconut curry broth, which I didn't order so much as lean over and help myself to (sorry dear).

Well worth a visit, and ridiculously good value for money it must be said. We plan on returning shortly to sample the West coast menu, and perhaps a couple more currytinis.

Went to the restaurant for the first time this evening on the recommendation of several other couples;When we arrived first impressions were very good ;sadly misleading as we were led to a table very close to two other couples with most of the restaurant available !!.After 5 or so minutes a waiter came over to ask if we would like a drink ,we ordered two small beers and a bottle of red ,the waiter brought the beers and thoughtfully suggested he 'd bring the wine with our main courses!!!,We ordered our starters ,which duly arrived ,mine was Ostrich ,very very good ,my wife ordered Quail in a tamarind sauce , unfortunately it came with a lump of plastic!!!,When we showed the waiter he was very apologetic as was the chef who came out of the kitchen to apologise( a very nice touch),however we then waited 30 mins for our main courses which when they arrived were reasonable.However ,we decided that we did'nt want desserts and we just wanted the bill which we asked for ;10 or so minutes later the waiter came back with two desserts compliments of the house; we really were'nt interested ,we just wanted the bill , my wife out of politeness accepted her dessert but I turned my dessert down as I really was'nt interested,and I asked for the bill again!.About 3 minutes later the manager came over with the dessert I had already turned down and offered it to me again,I politely declined and asked for the bill again ,the waiters then bought us two complimentary digestif type drinks that we did 'nt want we explained that we just wanted the bill;Eventually one of them brought the bill;I explained that we were'nt leaving a tip because of the plastic in my wife's starter and because we did'nt ask or want free desserts or complimentary drinks in order to make up for the disappointment,Its a shame because as I have said my Ostrich was excellent

I went to the Babur last night with three others…we turned up earlier than we had booked were quickly given a table with no problem. I had not been there since their refit and was amazed to see how modern it was, yet it felt very warm and welcoming. we had some p'doms with the most amazing chutneys..the whole garlic clove was the the best. We ordered from what was not the usual type of indian menu. The I felt menu was much more considered and select rather than pages and pages of every type of curry you can think of. I opted for Beggars Parcel to start which were vegetable filled pastry sacks..they were great…enjoyed their starters…I then had Black Cod on what was the most amazing sauce and mustard potatoes , not what you might normally expect..but it was distinctly indian and tasted wonderful. The others had a selection..Lamb on the bone, a large pancake filled with vegetables and then a special plate made especially by the chef for someone in our party who did not like chili. We were too full to have deserts. If you fancy a real treat in very pleasant surroundings then this is the place. In the end it worked out to be about 25 pounds a head. If I have any sort of a negative it's only to say that a few more vegetarian main courses would be good to see. Go try for yourself.

After having booked for 9.00pm for a table for 2 (and double checked for optimal time of arrival thereafter), my companion and I were made to wait for 40 minutes in a very cramped entrance lobby. It was clear that the restaurant had overbooked. No attempt was made to serve any of the 12-15 people waiting in the crammed vestibule with complementary (or paid) drinks. [12th March 2009]

Waiters ignored all of us and then when asked (by me on several occasions) said the table was being cleared and that it would be ready in 5 minutes. After this rigmarole continued (over a period of half an hour) and to add insult to injury, another couple (who had booked for 9.15) were whisked to a table before us. We thought that was a very ignorant response by the waiters who clearly didn't understand first come first served for those who had made reservations.

At that stage, we decided to leave. Although I had eaten there before and know that the food is good and reasonably priced, I will not be going there again. I would recommmend Tandoori Nights on nearby Lordhsip Lane as a venue with excellent food AND excellent service.