Restaurant

Name: Anokha
Area: Aldgate
Address: 2 Creechurch Lane
London EC3A 5AY
Phone: 020 7283 7729
Website: www.anokha-indian.com

Visits to this restaurant ...

1. 30 Apr 2009|2. 25 Mar 2010|3. 29 Mar 2012|4. 31 Jan 2013


Bald bastards!
(I'm glad I'm not like that!)

Visit Report

Visit Number: 109 (visit 1 of 4 for this restaurant)
Date of visit: 30 Apr 2009
Cost per head: £35.00 (1.5 beers)

Serv Amb Beer Start Nan Rice Main Veg VFM Score Comments
Overall 3.9 7.7 6.7 7.5 7.3 6.9 7.7 7.2 5.7 6.84
Jon 5 9 7 9 8 8 8 7 7 7.7 See Jon's comments
Brian 2 9 6 8 6 6 7 6 5 6.3 See Brian's comments
Alex 6 7 7 8 8 8 8 8 7.6 See Alex's comments
Dave 5 8 7 7 9 7 8 8 6 7.3 See Dave's comments
Jeff 1 7 9 4 6 9 7 6 6.3 See Jeff's comments
Matt (Guest) 5 7 7 7 7 6 6 7 6 6.4 See Matt's comments
Graeme 2 8 6 7 7 7 9 8 6 6.9 See Graeme's comments
John 3 7 8 9 7 8 8 7 4 7.0 See John's comments
Robin 7 8 6 9 6 8 7 8 6 7.3 See Robin's comments
Tim 3 7 4 7 6 7 6 3 5.6 See Tim's comments

All Comments

Jon - I had high hopes for Anohka, and while it disappointed on the service front, it did not on the food. The restaurant was extremely busy, and although they were initially very attentive and ready to take our starter orders straight away, having asked for a little time, we were given far too much. It was a good 35 minutes before they eventually took our orders and another 35 before the starters turned up. But the food was excellent. I went for a duck puree for starter, which was extremely tasty with very tender meat, and a lamb shank for main – probably not as good as the Mehek version at its best, but pretty damn good all the same. All the accompaniments were of the required standard and the lively atmosphere made for a good night. The waiter did let the side down again when he got a bit shirty when we didn’t pay the full service charge, but he was ultimately very apologetic. I’ll definitely go back!

Brian - High ambience score, as it's a nice restaurant with modern, clean amenities. The seats were big and comfortable, however on my side of the table they were wedged closely together to fit us all in, which seemed unnecessary. Service was very slow, and the fact that the restaurant was busy is no excuse. My scallop puree starter was very good, and the lamb shank had loads of tender meat, and although the sauce could have been a bit spicier, this always appears to be the case with this dish in any Indian restaurant.

Alex - Slow and somewhat disorganized service but good food with some interesting variations on the menu. Bit dark for old folk like me whose eyesight isn’t what it used to be! Robin’s laser pen didn’t help much…

Dave - Busy restaurant, contributed to good ambience but slow service. There was no draught beer and I objected to being given (without being asked) two small bottles of Kingfisher as a replacement (working out at a whopping £5.90 a pint!). Prawn Puri, whilst tasty, was delivered luke warm after a long wait. Nan bread was excellent and my Chicken Curry very tasty. All in all, good food, but for the hefty prices charged I would expect better service.

Jeff - The Ship off Mark Lane was a good choice of pub, with 4 real ales on, although I arrived late. Then a short walk to Anokha. Good start with poppadoms coming quickly and a choice of 3 or 4 beers. It was surprisingly busy, with a lot of large parties, which may explain but not excuse the dreadfully slow service. We were asked if we wanted just a bunch of mixed starters, and when we refused and said we'd choose our own, it took 40 minutes to take our order! Then it took another long wait before any food actually arrived. I tried to choose some different dishes, but my starter of paneer tikka was incredibly small, alhough it tasted alright. For my main I ordered duck shashlik, for which I was criticised as a potentially girly dish. It was excellent, there being lots of very tasty duck. But I don't think that the promised salad materialised, so again, poor service let them down. Altogether, a very good meal, but let down by poor service.

Matt - Service very slow and main strangely too sweet for a lamb dish.

Graeme - Most things about this place were good: the modern decor, large size, it was very busy and the food was generally excellent. However, the poor service let it down badly. After some initial interest from the waiters (including trying to persuade us all to have the shared mixed platter), we had to wait ages for our orders to be taken; they managed to mix up my King Prawn Puree and Tim's Duck Puree (which resulted in the waiters having to open them both up and then swap them over); and they part poured our bottles of beer before serving them (therefore giving a random quantity to each person). The price was a bit lumpy but, by not paying the 'mandatory' service charge, we kept it just about bearable. Having said all the above, I would go back. I felt a bit uneasy missing the Boro vs Cambridge United play-off first leg match (obviously I would have gone to the football if it had been the second leg). Vodafone decided to save up all the texts keeping me in touch with the game until I was on the train home - all 7 arriving together. Luckily, Google Boy was on hand to tell me the score (a 3-1 win) in the restaurant.

John - Reasonably good food (sheek kebab followed by a chef's special chicken dish) but at expensive, pumped-up City prices.

Robin - The service was a bit slow, but perhaps because the place was over half full when we arrived and nearly completely full when we left. It's a shame we don't score the poppadoms because they were wafer thin, crisp, not at all greasy and tasted wonderful. They would have merited a 10 in my view. I had an excellent king prawn puree to start, then a monkfish rogan josh for my main course (one of the specials of the day). Sadly the monkfish was rather overcooked and had a powdery texture, but the rogan josh sauce was very nice. The special rice was plentiful and rather tasty, and at least I got to sample various veg dishes (unlike the last outing), which were all pretty good. The prices were a bit steep, but if it wasn't for my overcooked monkfish I would have rated VFM a bit higher despite the cost. I hope we get to go back at some point because I'd like to give the Anokha another chance to really shine, since I'm sure it could.

Tim - Anokha is a pleasant, subterranean restaurant hidden up a quiet side street. The lighting is atmospheric, the tables well-spaced, and the armchairs slightly too large to fit comfortably at the tables. Starter of duck puree was quite tasty. The main course of badshah bhag (king prawns with chillies in a sauce) was enjoyable, though there wasn't much evidence of the advertised green chillies. The main problems were around the service. They got the starters mixed up; if the duck puree looks like the prawn puree they should come up with a system to tell them apart, not just hand them out randomly. Also the main course wasn't served until over an hour and a half after we turned up. Bottled Kingfisher was only available in small bottles, which meant it cost £6 for the equivalent of a normal bottle. The final cost was high, even without allowing for service. Overall, I think there are better places for the money.


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