Restaurant

Name: Curry Leaf East
Status: Closed
Area: Moorgate
Address: 20 City Road
London EC1Y 2AJ
Phone: 020 7374 4842
Website: www.curryleafeast.co.uk

Visits to this restaurant ...

1. 24 Feb 2005|2. 28 Sep 2006|3. 26 Jul 2007|4. 27 Nov 2008|5. 28 May 2009
6. 28 Jan 2010|7. 30 May 2013|8. 26 May 2016|9. 27 Jul 2017


Don't tell Tim, but it's gone 7:30 and the boys are still in the pub.

Visit Report

Visit Number: 104 (visit 4 of 9 for this restaurant)
Date of visit: 27 Nov 2008
Cost per head: £32.00 (1.5 beers)

Serv Amb Beer Start Nan Rice Main Veg VFM Score Comments
Overall 7.2 5.7 6.3 7.5 7.3 7.6 7.8 7.1 6.4 7.08
Richard 8 6 6 7 7 7 7 6 5 6.6 See Richard's comments
Graeme 7 6 7 8 8 8 10 8 7 7.9 See Graeme's comments
Tim 7 6 5 8 6 7 6 5 6.4 See Tim's comments
Mark 7 4 6 7 8 8 6 7 8 6.7 See Mark's comments
John 7 2 8 7 8 8 7 5 6.7 See John's comments
Jon 5 6 7 6 7 8 9 8 7 7.1 See Jon's comments
Alex 8 8 7 8 8 8 8 8 7.9 See Alex's comments
Robin 8 5 6 7 7 9 9 7 7 7.4 See Robin's comments
Brian 7 6 6 8 7 7 8 7 6 7.0 See Brian's comments
Tony (Guest) 8 8 7 8 7 7 6 7 6 6.9 See Tony's comments

All Comments

Richard - The joy of Curry Leaf East is the extensive and unusual menu. I had kalimari peri-peri to start with, the squid of which was a tad rubbery (although I guess that’s to be expected in a curry), although with a spicy tasty sauce. The Akbari platter was a large selection of grilled meats and fish, although not charred enough for my taste. Side-dishes were good, although only the poppadums were really excellent. The waiter was sensitive to these credit crunch times, and helpfully recommended the 50p "cheaper" Cobra at £4.95 per bottle. Luckily we had loaded up in the "bargain" Bishop beforehand on Old Wallop, so I think the price would be higher if we were drinking usual amounts. Service was actually very good, although I didn’t like being ushered into the back room. Nice, but should be 20% cheaper, so will probably lose it’s high position.

Graeme - Top nosh! The general standard of food was excellent, especially my Chicken Jalfrezi main course (10/10). We were put in the downstairs overflow room which was a bit dull compared with the main ground floor restaurant but I haven't marked it down too much for that. The service was well intentioned but a bit 'scatter-gun'. All-in-all, a very good experience and well worth the rather high price. It was good to meet beforehand in the Bishop of Norwich - a venue for the more discerning drinker - and they do a lovely semi-'nut' lager. Rats announced his imminent early retirement from the Bank with some ridiculously high 'deal' - I'm not at all jealous (the bastard!).

Tim - We hadn't booked a table, and as the main restaurant was busy, we were led down into the basement. The room was pleasant enough, but with just one large table, it was like eating in someone's (posh) dining room, rather than in a restaurant. The beer selection was uninspired, and with Kingfisher outrageously priced at over £5 a bottle, I decided to have wine instead. Poppadoms were OK, though there was no lime pickle again. Starter of chicken chatpatta was good - chicken, onion and peppers in a spicy sauce with salad accompaniment. Main course of lal maans - a lamb dish, was fine. Some unusual vegetable dishes: baigan mirch ka salan and miloni khurchan, were OK, but didn't really stand out to me. The service was efficient (this is sometimes a problem when seated separately from the main restaurant). However the overall cost was quite high.

Mark - Curry Leaf East was so different to the Mantra that it makes you wonder how the latter survives. Attitude can make such a difference and CLF realises that having a group of 10 people turning up without booking means an extra £300+ in the till rather than being a ruin of their evening. Chicken starter had a good bite while Lamb Biryani was moist and succulent although was light on the meat content. Prices were not cheap but you would not expect that at this level of excellence. Beer was a rip off at £4.95 but otherwise a very enjoyable outing.

John - Above average effort. Chicken chat patti to start followed by a spring lamb dish which was spicy but not too hot. Diet coke was a bit flat so I’ll be reverting back to Cobra for the next curry. Good company as always.

Jon - Another good performance from Curry Leaf East. It was a little disappointing being on our own downstairs and the service did seem to be a little disorganised with many people's rice coming out last, but the food was excellent. The lack of lime chutney with the popadoms is not really acceptable, particularly as they charge extra for the accompaniments, and some of the popadoms were a bit burned - this brings my starter mark down a bit as the lamb something-or-other I had was very good. As for the main, it was Chicken something Korma, and despite the reputation of last word, it had a real bite - it was also very tasty and had a nice creamy texture. Despite Dom not being in attendance, wine was still consumed after Tim bristled at the cost of the Kingfisher - Tall Tony was his willing accomplice. An all round good evening and I firmly expect the CLE to retain its top six spot.

Alex - [None]

Robin - Perhaps we should have booked. The main restaurant was fairly full (completely full when we left) so the ten of us were relegated to the basement (next to the loo). However, the service was attentive without being over the top and the food was excellent. I had a chicken liver tak-a-tak to start (chopped chicken livers and minced lamb), which was delicious. My main course was called king prawn delight (4 big juicy prawns) and it was superb. The accompanying special rice was outstanding and the other veg dishes were all very good. Not cheap, but well worth the money in my view.

Brian - An enjoyable evening as usual, and a good meal with some interesting menu options. Starter was good (I cannot remember exactly what it was, although I think it involved calamari), and my duck main course was very nice. Good selection of veggie sides. Ambience spoiled slightly by being seated downstairs, however we did not book, so it was understandable that there was no room in the main restaurant area.

Tony - Without booking in advance, Curry Leaf East accommodated us in the basement with a large table all on our own. Whilst quiet, we were unfortunately located directly next to the only toilets so had many people walking past us during the meal. Comfortable ambience. Clean and lavish interior, although would have preferred seating upstairs with the other restaurant guests. Opted for wine instead of beer, as cost was rather high for large cobras. Had the Calamari piri piri as starter. Rather tasty, although hotter than expected. Went for pilau rice. Adequate. For main course, I had the king prawn delight. Good sized prawns, but the sauce was a little sickly and all in all a bit of a let down. Overall I marked the experience down, as while the restaurant was comfortable, I felt the value for money was not reflected in the cost of the beers and food.


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