Restaurant
Name: | Eastern Eye | |
Area: | Brick Lane | |
Address: | 63a Brick Lane | |
London E1 6QL | ||
Phone: | 020 7247 8643 | |
Website: | easterneyebaltihouse.co.uk |
Visits to this restaurant ...
1. 25 May 2000 | | | 2. 30 Apr 2015 | | | 3. 29 Sep 2016 |
Visit Report
Visit Number: | 197 (visit 3 of 3 for this restaurant) | |
Date of visit: | 29 Sep 2016 | |
Cost per head: | £19.00 (2 beers) |
Serv | Amb | Beer | Start | Nan | Rice | Main | Veg | VFM | Score | Comments | |
Overall | 6.8 | 6.3 | 6.1 | 6.2 | 5.4 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 5.9 | 7.9 | 6.49 | |
Jeff | 8 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 7.4 | See Jeff's comments |
John | 5 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3.5 | See John's comments |
Brian | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 7.3 | See Brian's comments |
Mark | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 7.0 | See Mark's comments | |
Robin | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 8.0 | See Robin's comments |
Dave | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5.0 | See Dave's comments |
Graeme | 8 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 7.0 | See Graeme's comments | |
Neil | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 7.0 | See Neil's comments |
Tim | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 6.1 | See Tim's comments |
All Comments
Jeff - A night of surprises. 1. This restaurant was not the one I thought it was. 2. The food was much better than last time. 3. Four of us went for a cheeky pint in Williams' Bar afterwards. My starter of mixed vegetable plater (sic) was tasty, my main of lamb balti rogan featured good meat and spicy sauce, and the mushroom bhaji, naan and rice were all good. However, some of my fellow diners said their food was not up to much, so perhaps consistency is an issue. Quick and efficient service. Cheap too with the taste card discount.
John - Cheap but rubbish.
Brian - Despite ordering something slightly different, my chicken puree starter (should have been prawns) was good. Main of Lamb Dopiaza was also tasty and plentiful. Rice and veg all good. This is a good Brick Lane eatery of the old school – no bells or whistles (or fish!), but what they do, they appear to do well. I get the feeling that other people weren't impressed, so I think we're unlikely to see this in the top 6.
Mark - Eastern Eye Balti House was reasonably empty until we turned up which meant we sat in the middle rather than squashed up against the wall. The same unreadable menu so did not realise mine came with Pineapple! Pops were fine as was the meat samosa and well presented. Main was a bit sweet for my taste but that was down to me I guess. Fairly quick service although a few mix ups I think. With the PoS as our starting point and TasteCard discount this was a really cheap evening overall (except for Griff). All good although no real highlights, just an enjoyable evening for a reasonable cheap Brick Lane curry.
Robin - I thought the service was pretty good, my reshmi kebab not bad and my tandoori king prawn pathia main superb - plenty of prawns in a lovely thick sauce - wonderful flavour. The veg dishes were also good but the keema nan was disappointing, the meat all having migrated into about a quarter of the nan. Shame the only Indian beer is bottled Cobra, but at least it was nice and cold. The special rice was plentiful and excellent, but best of all was the amazingly low price - max VFM without a doubt!
Dave - Disappointing performance from the Eastern Eye - how it made top six I don't know but I will be gobsmacked if it retains its top six status - roll on November and the return to the Empress!
Graeme - A good meal in a 'straight-forward' Brick Lane curry house for a very cheap price (after El Pres's TasteCard discount). I enjoyed this visit more than my last, probably due to better menu selections. My Prawn Puree starter was tasty and much needed - I was starving. For main, I had the Chicken Pathia which was very good - this is my go-to dish at my local curry house and I rarely find one elsewhere that compares. Three ancillary things to report: a. I got to the pub too late to have a drink (v. disappointing!), b. my girlie reading glasses came into their own with the appallingly designed menus and, c. I learnt that nobody else is that keen on Sag Aloo and only have it to humour me! (I'm sure that's not true.)
Neil - A revisit for the Eastern Eye, one of my favourite curry houses and as normal it didn't disappoint on the VFM. In essence, an above average meal in the middle of Brick Lane with the benefit of accepting one of El Presidente's discount cards bringing the price right down. Only a small disappointment in that the stuffed paratha was a bit doughy and the starter a bit light in quantity.
Tim - The restaurant was almost empty when we arrived, although another party arrived later. It was nice to see proper white tablecloths, and there was plenty of space. The beer selection hasn't improved since last visit - just bottles of Cobra and cans of Carlsberg, so I opted for a bottle of house red (Italian Merlot), which was reasonable value (cheaper than 2 beers), but a bit rough. The plastic menus have seen better days, and the seventies-themed orange writing on brown background is almost impossible to read. I ordered chicken puree starter, but my dish was inadvertently swapped and I ended up with prawn puree instead. The waiter offered to change it, but I didn't want to wait, though in hindsight I think I would have preferred the chicken. The main of lamb tikka uribeesi gatta main was rather salty, but was otherwise quite tasty, with a reasonable amount of meat and lots of beans. The deshi dhal, which I don't remember seeing elsewhere, was extremely runny, but had an interesting flavour, however I found the sag aloo tasted a bit sweet. The keema nan didn't have a very even meat distribution. Service was efficient apart from the prawn/chicken mix-up, and the overall cost was very good, helped by the Tastecard discount.