Restaurant
Name: | Dil Chad | |
Area: | Spitalfields | |
Address: | 24 Widegate Street | |
London E1 7HP | ||
Phone: | 020 7247 9614 | |
Website: | www.dilchad.com |
Visits to this restaurant ...
1. 27 Jul 2000 | | | 2. 30 May 2002 | | | 3. 28 Apr 2005 | | | 4. 28 Feb 2019 |
Visit Report
Visit Number: | 226 (visit 4 of 4 for this restaurant) | |
Date of visit: | 28 Feb 2019 | |
Cost per head: | £40.00 (2 beers) |
Serv | Amb | Beer | Start | Nan | Rice | Main | Veg | VFM | Score | Comments | |
Overall | 6.9 | 6.7 | 6.4 | 7.3 | 6.1 | 6.9 | 7.4 | 6.9 | 5.9 | 6.81 | |
Dave | 8 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8.2 | See Dave's comments |
Jeff | 7 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 7.4 | See Jeff's comments | ||
Neil | 6 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6.3 | See Neil's comments | |
Richard | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7.4 | See Richard's comments |
Alex | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7.2 | See Alex's comments | |
Brian | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7.6 | See Brian's comments |
Mark | 6 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 5.5 | See Mark's comments | |
John | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4.8 | See John's comments |
Dominic | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5.5 | See Dominic's comments |
Roger (Guest) | 8 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 6.8 | See Roger's comments |
Graeme | 7 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7.3 | See Graeme's comments | |
Robin | 8 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 8.5 | See Robin's comments |
Tim (Guest) | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6.5 | See Tim's comments |
Tim | 6 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 6.5 | See Tim's comments |
All Comments
Dave - Thoroughly enjoyed the return to the Dil Chunder - excellent prawn puri and very good chicken curry. Little bit on the pricey side but ambience was good - definitely top six material I think.
Jeff - A complete revamp from the old place, which was to be fair desperately needed. A real improvement in ambience, service, food quality and to be honest everything else too. Prawn Puri starter and Duck Jafrezie were particularly good, the duck coming so well presented with beautifully cooked vegetables that I didn't even think of having any of the table veg or even rice. Actually somewhere I would come back to.
Neil - A return to the Dil-Chunder! A City curry house of old that almost everyone ends up in occasionally due to its proximity to Liverpool St station. A long wait of almost fourteen years for the Club but given most of us have been there in the meantime individually, without much to cheer about, not really a surprise. However, the starter and mains now of good quality so I'm guessing they've invested in a good chef although they need to look up cooking a paratha which was really just limp bread. I'd certainly pop in if passing but not really Curry Marks Top 6.
Richard - The "historic" Dil Chunder has gone gastro. I started with lamb chops, which were fine, and a meat thali which was very nice and included 3 meat dishes. Jeff kindly shared a bit of his duck which was excellent. The thali was super value at £10.40 including rice and nan, whereas everything else was a bit pricey and this led to a lumpy bill of £40.
Alex - Much improved after its reappearance but a bit expensive for what it delivers - location to an extent I suppose. Starter and main were both good, always nice to find some duck on the menu.
Brian - The Lamb Takatak starter was very tasty. The main of Seafood Pai was a weird one – I had no idea that this was an actual pie, complete with pastry lid – but it was really very good. Rice / bread / veg were all good. Company and conversation all very enjoyable, and there was no singing, which was sweet relief.
Mark - In the old days the DilChad used to be the last port of call after many a beer which might explain some of the MAE issues. Visiting the new slimline venue after just a couple of pints seemed a better experience. Looking at the menu before going, I was pleased to see some variety of options and the prices seemed reasonable so how did we end up at £40 - must be all those bloody veggie dishes? When your starter is not served with the others and you get the 'Oh yes, just coming Sir' comment it is always a worry. My salmon tikka seemed to be an afterthought and was two small pieces - not good. For main I had the meat thaili which was good and actually too much for me overall with the included nan. Highlight was Brian learning how to pronounce Seafood Pai. Lowlight - someone not liking the idea of a whip even when they often have the most expensive dishes!
John - It's still rubbish.
Dominic - The newest version of the Dilchad is half the size of its predecessor and a lot more modern which gives it a much nicer feel. Service was generally so-so all evening but awarded an extra point as my rice was brought out before any of the mains ... finally! For starters I went with the Dilchad Rattan consisting of salmon tikka, paneer tikka, chicken tikka and an onion bhaji. Overall it was excellent and even though the chicken tikka was a tad dry, the onion Bhaji was superb. My main was the Lamb Katmandu which was listed as "very hot" ... it certainly was this but almost nothing else as it lacked flavour (at least for me). The rest was ok except that the Paratha was much too dry. The wine was decently priced (given the rest of the menu) but overall a very average VFM evening despite a round of liqueurs on the house. Great to see my very close friend Roger (as one of two guests on the night) returning since his initial visit in 2007 - obviously it took him that long to get over that disaster but now feels it was safe to venture from Oz and try again!! Looking forward to his next visit in 2031 ...
Roger - As a guest of the club (Dom) and also being slightly out of practice with the honourable tradition of the humble British Curry experience here are my thoughts. The service was good with the staff friendly and patient with our large and occasionally disorganised group. I've been to the Dilchad a long time ago and remember it being bigger and having more atmosphere so have marked it down slightly for this. The starter, rice, bread, veg and beer was all thoroughly enjoyable. For the main I chose the Dilchad special which I felt was a bit underwhelming and have marked down accordingly. Value for money wise I thought it was a bit steep as well. Overall however it was a pleasure to join the club for an evening for great conversation and entertainment and thanks for inviting me along.
Graeme - I thought this was a surprisingly successful return to the "Dil Chunder" after a break of 14 years. Since our last visit, the premises have been reduced to roughly half the size that they were, the result being a very nice looking restaurant. The menu had quite a small selection of dishes but I didn't mind that - it makes it easier to choose! My Duck Tikka starter was very tasty and tender. My Chicken Katmando main was fairly hot ("very hot" according to the menu) - maybe it was a bit too much of a raw heat rather than a blended flavour but it was pretty good (and a large portion too). I thought the service was good overall but there must have been some delays along the way as we finished getting on for an hour later than I would have expected. It was fairly expensive (top City prices?) but decent VFM as it was such a nice meal. It was good to catch up again with Dom's mate Roger (another Anglo-Aussie) - I hope he had a more enjoyable experience than his previous outing with us (11 years ago) to the disappointing Passage to India!
Robin - I had king prawn Puri to start, which was beautifully stuffed with loads of juicy prawns and was excellent. I tried the Dilchad Special for my main course and was extremely impressed - lamb chicken and hard boiled egg in a lovely aromatic sauce, and so much of it I couldn't eat it all. The special rice was also really good, as were the veg dishes. My half of kema nan was also well above average, but not quite up to the standard of the rest of the meal. Overall a wonderful meal and I'd be very happy to return in due course.
Tim - Service was OK but place was a bit cramped while beer was expensive. Lamb chop starter was nice, not overcooked and the breads & rice were OK but nothing special. Chicken Dhansak was pretty good quality, dhansak with lentils but not really spicy enough. Onion bharji a bit dry. Not the worst curry, good portions and no one died - so all ok!
Tim - The restaurant is pleasant and reasonably spacious, with subdued lighting from an interesting selection of light fixtures. Beer was nudging £6/bottle; not outrageous given that some pubs are now charging £5/pint, but rather a lot compared with the BYO last month. The Amritsari fish (Tilapia) starter was of a reasonable size, but unfortunately the batter was rather soft and the fish surprisingly chewy. Many of the main dishes were, I thought, a bit expensive, and I settled on the meat thali which seemed comparatively good value; containing 4 portions of different meat-based dishes, plus nan (plain) and rice. The meat dishes were quite varied and interestingly flavoured, although the sheekh kebab was pretty standard. I didn't manage to finish it all, and indeed there seemed to be quite a lot of food left over, which I was able to take home. The overall cost was quite high; and although there was a good quantity of food, and a free round of liqueurs; I'm not convinced it was fully worth it.