Restaurant
Name: | King's Cross Tandoori | |
Area: | King's Cross | |
Address: | 341 Gray's Inn Road | |
London WC1X 8PX | ||
Phone: | 020 7278 0506 | |
Website: |
Visits to this restaurant ...
1. 25 Oct 2018 | | | 2. 31 Mar 2022 | | | 3. 28 Mar 2023 |
Visit Report
Visit Number: | 257 (visit 3 of 3 for this restaurant) | |
Date of visit: | 28 Mar 2023 (Re-scheduled 30 Mar 2023 outing) | |
Cost per head: | £40.00 (1.5 beers) |
Serv | Amb | Beer | Start | Nan | Rice | Main | Veg | VFM | Score | Comments | |
Overall | 6.8 | 6.0 | 7.1 | 7.2 | 6.3 | 6.4 | 7.2 | 7.0 | 6.9 | 6.82 | |
Graeme | 8 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 7.7 | See Graeme's comments | |
Neil | 4 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2.5 | See Neil's comments | |
John | 6 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8.2 | See John's comments |
Mark | 5 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7.1 | See Mark's comments | ||
Jon | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7.4 | See Jon's comments | |
Dave | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7.7 | See Dave's comments |
Richard | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7.1 | See Richard's comments |
Jeff | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6.3 | See Jeff's comments |
Dominic | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 7.8 | See Dominic's comments |
Tim | 8 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6.2 | See Tim's comments |
All Comments
Graeme - This is one of my favourite curry houses in London. It's quite small but they managed to accommodate 10 of us very well. Griff was moaning about the (plain) poppadoms being delivered to the table without asking us first. I encouraged him to order spicy ones if that's what he wanted ... which he did. I think the plain ones were complimentary anyway. I had my usual Fish (Salmon) Tikka starter - excellent, although maybe it could have done with a few more fried onions. For main, I went for Garlic Chicken Tikka - very tasty indeed and the chicken was superb. Everything else was good and, at £40 p/h, decent VFM. Another good night of catching up with people both in the pub and the restaurant, including plenty of guitar gear talk!
Neil - Being in our top six I had high hopes, but it seems that they've gone downhill in a big way. Starter (chicken tikka) was over cooked and the metal plate so hot it burnt everything it was in contact with which left the onions and half the meat inedible. The main (chicken biryani) had extremely tough chicken and the rice, although plentiful, was nothing resembling a normal biryani, basically plain rice and some added flavouring, no vegetables. The stuffed paratha wasn't stuffed with anything that I could tell and wasn't cooked through fully. I was also slightly annoyed at being placed by the door on a cold night and having the pleasure of the waiters smoking only a few feet away. I've shown this in the ambience score, which was also affected by showing a football match (it's not a pub), although I think Jon quite enjoyed that bit! Hope not to go back any time soon.
John - A very good performance by the Kings X Tandoori. I had Sheek kebab followed by Tandoori Chicken Muli (chicken off the bone in a rich sauce with tomatoes and garlic – two chillies). The main course was very tasty with just enough of a kick – I'll be ordering that one again. All the sundries good too.
Mark - Tuesday!!! Blame the train strikes - obviously confused Tim who thought it was Halloween. A good few pints pre-curry with a lively discussion about Currymarks Deadman Sweepstake. Good turn out of 10 but this meant a 2 table setting with one by the door not so great. Chicken Pakora starter was very good - plentiful and tasty. Lamb Sag main had a nice kick while the rice was OK. This seems to be the only place we go to now that is below £40 (even if Dom then rounded it up). Not sure it was top 6 good but overall acceptable even if not good prep for an early game of golf the next day.
Jon - Another solid display from the Kings Cross Tandoori – it rarely disappoints in terms of the food. The mixed starter was very nice and the lamb dansak up to scratch as usual. It was great to get 10 of us out for the first time for a while, and the Butcombe Original beer in the Lucas Arms was a very good find.
Dave - Good night at the King's Cross Tandoori - the waiter was initially a bit "brusque" - but by the end of the meal (or more precisely when he delivered the second free Baileys with ice) my view had mellowed. Only "tropical" prawn purée for starter but my usual "spirit of adventure" kicked in and I gave it a go - it was actually quite nice. (Amin the cab driver said later that prawn purée with pineapple would never be served in India - however he did go onto say none of the dishes served in English curry houses would ever be served up in India.) The chicken curry was nice as were the spicy popadoms (and the few bits of plain popadom I had before Graeme rumbled me). Got the last bottle of Kingfisher and then switched to wine (exploring my inner Dom). The "glass" of wine was the size of a bucket but somehow I managed to get thru it. I can't actually remember what we talked about but I suppose this will become an increasing feature of curry club outings as the years go by - have spent the whole day today thinking it's Friday not Wednesday - can't wait for the return to our normal Thursday slot next month.
Richard - Good nosh for a reasonable price in a convenient location (if you're a northerner).
Jeff - My starter of chicken chat in a Puri was decent, then I chose the chicken pistachio, which seemed to be a standard curry with a tiny amount of ground pistachios on top rather than the sprinkle of chunks I would have liked. Tasted alright but there was more MAE than I usually experience. Veg and rice were ok, nan a little "airless". Bottled beers only. The meal was ok, the place won't let you down considering it's so close to a main line station. As before, generous free liqueurs were given out at the end of the evening.
Dominic - An unusual Tuesday night for the club saw us revisit the Kings Cross Tandoori, a venue I visit off piste with my "partner-in-crime". And it was another great evening for this cosy venue which was almost overflowing when I first arrived but then emptied a little as the night progressed. For starter I went with an off-piste Reshmi Kebab which was delicious and very generous. My main was a "turned up" Gosht Kara Massala which was excellent. The rest was great quality although I suspect the Stuffed Paratha will be more to Digger's taste! Overall, the service provided by our "main man" was first rate all evening aided and abetted by generously sized glasses of house wine and the very much appreciated round of liqueurs and indeed additional top-ups! Given the new norm of meal costs we have experienced, this was excellent value for money imho! Great to see everyone else on what was another enjoyable evening and I even got an invite to an online Bridge night … happy days!
Tim - We met at the Lucas Arms, which was fairly quiet, making it quick and easy to get served. Our table for 10 at the restaurant was split into a 4 and a 6 (it would have been inconvenient to get out otherwise). Unfortunately, I was sat next to the door, and every time it opened, which was quite frequently, particularly as it didn't seem to close properly, a cold draught blew across the back of my neck - they could really do with putting up some kind of screen along the back of the seat. The decor was quite basic, with cables and the like painted over rather than hidden. They ran out of Kingfisher, though they still had a choice of Cobra and Tiger. It was quite a while before the starters appeared, and when they did, my mixed starter was missing its kebab. After pointing that out, they cooked one specially and brought it out later, so it was freshly cooked, but I did wonder if some of the other items, particularly the chicken had been left a little too long, as it was less succulent than usual and the onions were stuck to the bottom of the dish. My main of King mix apparently contained chicken, lamb and prawn. I did wonder afterwards if I'd noticed any prawns, but I wouldn't go so far as to say there weren't any; it was quite tasty regardless. I tried some of Neil's stuffed paratha, which I found dry, chewy and completely lacking in filling, but I've only marked what I actually ordered, which was the keema nan - this was quite good. For some reason I found the vegetables a little disappointing, maybe lacking a little spice? We finished with a round of complimentary Baileys, which was most welcome, and apart from the minor issues noted above, I thought the service was very good - efficient and friendly. Overall, the cost was a little lower than some other places we've been to recently, but in my view, so was the quality, so it kind of balances out.