All Comments

Richard - Spicy whitebait starter was delicious again, and nan, poppadums and veg were excellent. The chicken korai was tasty and meaty, but not outstanding. Service was very friendly: Jon was recognised and the waiter asked after Dave! Despite being full they swiftly found us a space, providing beer and poppadums at the bar while we waited, and a free round of spirits without being asked. The ex-legend turned up late (obviously worried about drinking too much), then ordered a tia maria as a post-prandial! I blame that Aussie chap.

John - Mehek justifies its place in the top six of the table. Starter and main were outstanding (King prawn purree and Chicken Korai) and the sundries and veg were also top notch. Service was outstanding - very attentive but not obtrusive. Quite expensive but still good VFM. Griff would have enjoyed the hot towels. Nice that Colonel Chunder turned up after being stuck on the tube.

Graeme - I nearly missed the pre-match drinks completely due to some serious problems on the District Line. It would have been nice if London Underground had communicated what was happening to their "customers" but, once again, they demonstrated why our public transport system is so poor. I just made it in time for a quick pint before we left the pub for Mehek. This was by far my best visit to Mehek - everything seemed to click into place. The place was full and lively, the service was efficient, friendly & funny (I gave it 10/10) and the food was excellent. Although the price was a bit lumpy, it was still very good v.f.m. It was also a very enjoyable conversation-wise. My re-telling of the Mark-puking-on-the-train-after-a-Christmas-party story never fails to get a laugh. My own recent experience was, of course, a completely different matter.

Jon - The Mehek has been my favourite Indian restaurant for some time. The excellent service and general feel about the place has always made me look forward to our visits, but the main draw has always been the Ak-bari Lamb Shank. On this visit, however, it simply failed to deliver. The service was every bit as good as it has always been but the food was distinctly average. With the waiter unwilling to allow me off menu for a reshmi kebab starter, I went with his recommendation of some other sort of lamb starter which was tasty but small and distinctly unexciting. But I was looking forward to my lamb shank which has never let me down in the past, but this time it did. Rather than being the delicious fall-off-the-bone melt-in-the-mouth treat I have been used to, it was far less tender and I had to work to get it off the bone. It tasted OK but just didn't have the same something that has made me recommend it time and again. Whether that disappointment affected my judgment I'm not sure, but the rice and veg were also very average although the keema nan was good - thinking about it, maybe I'd had a lamb overload! The free liqueurs and hot towels did not disappoint, but in my eyes, the Mehek now has some work to do to regain its exalted status.

Jeff - As usual the Mehek was busy with a very good atmosphere; although we were 9, and had not booked (as usual), we were sat at the bar and given beers and poppadoms to keep us sweet while tables were found. We were recognised quickly as the Currymarks crew. To that end service was very good, although they did forget to bring Tim's Kingfisher. They gave us free liqueurs at the end, and hot towels thanks to the Griff (a personal friend of the manager). My problem lies with the meal itself. First I thought "ok, they're meant to be good, I'll see how they do a run of the mill Onion Bhaji" - and it was just average. Then I tried the infamous Lamb Shank, in the words of a well-known member "the best curry dish I've ever had". Well maybe it was an off night because mine arrived luke-warm looking like it had been on the plate 20 minutes before it reached me, virtually black, and quite tasteless except for a minty aftertaste. All for £12.95. Rice was average, vegetables were very salty (by general agreement). Thus poor vfm. I would say to el Presidente, you didn't miss anything tonight.

Robin - Having previously had two superb meals at Mehek I was sadly disappointed by this visit. Good points first: the ambiance, service king prawn puri starter and paratha bread were excellent, and the veg dishes were well above average. Still no draught Indian lager, but that's common enough. I had the Akbari lamb shank for my main course, and it was mediocre at best - hardly spiced at all and not sufficiently well cooked. I like the meat to be ready to fall off the bone on a properly prepared lamb shank; the meat was technically 'cooked' but somewhat tough and you certainly had to use a knife to tackle it, instead of just a fork. The 'special' rice was dire. Instead of rice, some peas, maybe a few crushed cardamons, little bits of egg, even a few tiny prawns, etc. - the usual sort of special rice - this appeared to contain just rice, peas and bits of carrot and swede. I hate carrots and swede and I thought this rice dish was dreadful. At the very high price of £33 per head the Mehek's performance on this occasion was very much below par, and if any others of our party had a similar experience even its continued presence in our top six list is highly questionable.

Tim - We hadn't booked, and as there were 9 of us, and the place was quite busy, it's not surprising that we had to wait for a table. Fortunately, we were able to have beer and poppadoms at the bar, until a table was available. The chutneys were better than average, the raita in particular was a bit thicker than usual, which makes for less mess, and nicely-flavoured too. The starter of Fish Tikka (Bay of Bengal Tiger-Fish apparently) was quite good. However it suffered a bit from the common problems with fish dishes in Indian restaurants - some styles of cooking can dry the fish out, and the fish's flavour has a hard time standing up to the flavour of the spices. The main course of Haash Hayderabadi (duck in spices, sesame seeds, coconut, peanut, and mustard) had lots of good-quality meat and a nice flavour. The Nans were quite small. I liked the Paneer Malai Kofta - cheese and potato balls in breadcrumbs in a masala sauce, and the other veg. were also OK. The service was excellent - attentive, but not obtrusive, and there was an offer of a free round of drinks at the end of the meal. All in all, an enjoyable evening.

Tony - Service was attentive. Were served rapidly at the bar with poppadoms and beers and a table rustled up with speed. The staff made a valiant attempt at remembering a few of our names. Seemed to know who had ordered what. Several people attended table, which helped to feed us rapidly. Also a nifty gesture in removing the handwipes from their cover at the end of the meal. Made to feel welcome. Starters arrived swiftly, if mains came sooner would have awarded 10.

Alex - Rather good food as before and they managed to get us a table. Nice to see some more original dishes.