Best Indian Restaurant in East Dulwich 2006

[Administrator]

Whilst we do appreciate that Ganapati is a very good and authentic Indian Restaurant and worth trying if you haven't done so already (especially for the Thali), it is however outside the catchment area of this poll and we have to leave it out.

[Guest]

Tandoori nights and Surma are great.

Coriander is also fantastic.

[bry]

Just voted in the top 10 indian restaurants in London and SE England by the TIMES (NOV 2006). Considering there are 8000 odd restaurants in the region this is some achievement. Hardens guide only A** Indian in Greater London this year. Celeb mecca....you cant move in there some nights for falling over Jimmy Nesbitt/Tim Spall/ Joanna Lummley et al !!! Really, really good food, organic based menu but still approachable and not intimidating. Service is amongst the friendliest and most proffesional I have ever come across. The restaurant has been on the Lane for years and in my opinion is responsible in no small part for putting the area on the 'map'. The owner, his sons and daughter and all the staff take a real pride in what they do...For these reasons Tandoori Nights gets my vote and undying devotion!!!! keep up the good work guys!!!!!!

[Guest]

At the risk of being pelted with stones by the TN fan-club... We ate there when we moved to ED (on the recommendation of many - as born-out by the weight of support in this forum), and we gave it another try after it's polling in 'Best Indian', but my opinion hasn't changed. I agree with comments about restaurant ambience, staff, service etc, but the food they serve is nothing more than above-average, standard 'English Curry' fare. Comments such as 'the food wasn't swilling with oil' or 'the chicken was succulent' say more about the standard of food in the majority of Indian restaurants then they do about the Tandoori Nights.

I lived in Tooting for many years, which has an abundance of Indian and Pakistani restaurants. It has its fair share of duffers, but in the best of them (eg Mirch Masala, Sree Krishna, Kastoori, for example), the food in simply in a different league. As a restaurant, the Mirch, for example, is a bit rough and ready and the service isn't always great, and whilst you won't find Jimmy Nesbitt or Joanna Lumley in there, what you will find is restaurant packed full of locals (a hefty percentage of them (British)/Indian, which tells you something) and a queue of people waiting to be seated - right out of the door - on a freezing cold Wednesday night.

I'm glad people love the TN and I don't want to come across as raining on anyone's parade for the sake of it, but for me, its 'top polling' only serves to demonstrate how few places there are in London where you can actually get the real deal, because it's my opinion that once you've had it, you'll see 'English Indian' restaurants in a totally different light. Your fingers will skip over Chicken TikkaMasala/Jalfrezi/Korma/Pasandar etc (if they even have them listed) as you look for the jeera chicken wings, masala dosai and keema peas.

As an aside, I'd recommend trying Ganapati.. it's a start!

[Guest]

I don't know what all the fuss is about with Tandoori Nights. On the one occasion I was able to get a table (I am useless at booking in advance) I found it dingy, poky and the service a bit on the snooty side. The dishes were tiny - nouvelle cuisine, indian style? - and unremarkable. To be perfectly frank I do not give a flying XXXX whether local nonebrities go there or not. I'd rather have good value - nice food, not too pricey, a relaxed environment and waiters who make you feel comfortable. For this reason I prefer the other Indian places on Lordship Lane. When I don't mind driving, my fave Lonodn curry house of all is Shahee Bhelpoori in Norbury, near Streatham. They never take you for granted - ever-smiling service & lovely food, incredibly underpriced and unusual (specialities like Dosas are fantastic) - all vegetarian but my meat-eating friends have been there and loved it too.

[Guest]

I don't know what all the fuss is about with Tandoori Nights. On the one occasion I was able to get a table (I am useless at booking in advance) I found it dingy, poky and the service a bit on the snooty side. The dishes were tiny - nouvelle cuisine, indian style? - and unremarkable. To be perfectly frank I do not give a flying XXXX whether local nonebrities go there or not. I'd rather have good value - nice food, not too pricey, a relaxed environment and waiters who make you feel comfortable. For this reason I prefer the other Indian places on Lordship Lane. When I don't mind driving, my fave Lonodn curry house of all is Shahee Bhelpoori in Norbury, near Streatham. They never take you for granted - ever-smiling service & lovely food, incredibly underpriced and unusual (specialities like Dosas are fantastic) - all vegetarian but my meat-eating friends have been there and loved it too.

[Guest]

At the risk of being pelted with stones by the TN fan-club... We ate there when we moved to ED (on the recommendation of many - as born-out by the weight of support in this forum), and we gave it another try after it's polling in 'Best Indian', but my opinion hasn't changed. I agree with comments about restaurant ambience, staff, service etc, but the food they serve is nothing more than above-average, standard 'English Curry' fare. Comments such as 'the food wasn't swilling with oil' or 'the chicken was succulent' say more about the standard of food in the majority of Indian restaurants then they do about the Tandoori Nights.

I lived in Tooting for many years, which has an abundance of Indian and Pakistani restaurants. It has its fair share of duffers, but in the best of them (eg Mirch Masala, Sree Krishna, Kastoori, for example), the food in simply in a different league. As a restaurant, the Mirch, for example, is a bit rough and ready and the service isn't always great, and whilst you won't find Jimmy Nesbitt or Joanna Lumley in there, what you will find is restaurant packed full of locals (a hefty percentage of them (British)/Indian, which tells you something) and a queue of people waiting to be seated - right out of the door - on a freezing cold Wednesday night.

I'm glad people love the TN and I don't want to come across as raining on anyone's parade for the sake of it, but for me, its 'top polling' only serves to demonstrate how few places there are in London where you can actually get the real deal, because it's my opinion that once you've had it, you'll see 'English Indian' restaurants in a totally different light. Your fingers will skip over Chicken TikkaMasala/Jalfrezi/Korma/Pasandar etc (if they even have them listed) as you look for the jeera chicken wings, masala dosai and keema peas.

As an aside, I'd recommend trying Ganapati.. it's a start!

[Guest]

I don't know what all the fuss is about with Tandoori Nights. On the one occasion I was able to get a table (I am useless at booking in advance) I found it dingy, poky and the service a bit on the snooty side. The dishes were tiny - nouvelle cuisine, indian style? - and unremarkable. To be perfectly frank I do not give a flying XXXX whether local nonebrities go there or not. I'd rather have good value - nice food, not too pricey, a relaxed environment and waiters who make you feel comfortable. For this reason I prefer the other Indian places on Lordship Lane. When I don't mind driving, my fave Lonodn curry house of all is Shahee Bhelpoori in Norbury, near Streatham. They never take you for granted - ever-smiling service & lovely food, incredibly underpriced and unusual (specialities like Dosas are fantastic) - all vegetarian but my meat-eating friends have been there and loved it too

[cookie]

Nostalgia time...

Can anyone else remember the indian restaurant that used to be on Northcross Road on the same block as Pretty Traditional. It was like walking into someone's front room. The food was the same old generic tandoori fare though. There used to be a butchers, newsagents and Health food shop on the same block. I'm sure the butchers and health food shop would have done very well nowadays.

As far as todays indian restaurants, as a veggie I find the Surma by far the best, with The Coriander a close second. Tandoori Nights and Curry Cabin just seem to throw some frozen veg in a bland sauce for their veggie dishes.

btw, how come The Curry Cabin has gone form 0% in your poll to 22% in a couple of days? Have you been infiltrated?

[georgia]

I am also a veggie and both my partner (not a veggie) and I think that Tandoori Nights is by far the best Indian restaurant in East Dulwich, though the Coriander is also very good. Some other restaurants we have been to on Lordship Lane serve food floating in oil, which is not authentic and is pretty disgusting. My partner is Indian so I guess he should know what is good and what isn't!

[cookie]

Yep, plenty of my friends recommend Tandoori Nights too, but they're all carnivores. I just can't get past the frozen mixed veg in the dishes, (using the uniform carrots and pieces of sweetcorn as evidence).

I actually think we're pretty poorly served down Lordship Lane in terms of the variety of indian food. All the restaurants are much of a muchness. If I want "authentic" indian food I go down Drummond Street in Euston, or the Shahee Bhelpoori in Norbury is also good as mentioned previously in this thread. The Ganapati is OK but overpriced.

[georgia]

If you want great Indian food I recommend these places (not in ED but it is ok to venture elsewhere!!):

Kasturi - opposite Aldgate Tube station

La Porte des Indes - 32, Bryanston Street (behind Marble Arch Tube station)

Rasa - Dering Street (off Oxford Street)

Georgia. :)

[xstolenx]

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR VOTING SURMA AS THE BEST INDIAN RESTAURANT IN THIS DULWICH!

IT IS A HUGE HONOUR FOR MY DAD AND HIS EMPLOYEES.

PLEASE KEEP COMING TO SURMA! :))

[Guest]

I think the best by all means is Curry Cabin with all its offerings,the stuff,the food

and a very overwhelming atmosphere.

[Joe likes dinner]

I'm with bob on this one,

Hands up, Dulwich Tandoori is the one spot I've not been too, and the Surma deserves a mention for the free bottle of Cobra they brought with one particularly large order!! On the point of the strength of the Indian / Pakistani food in the Tooting area / ''English Curry'' selections in ED - the fact that these places are all endorsed by Indians thems elves say something and that the menus show the difference between Indian / Pakistani / Cashmeri cooking. Also, I'd check out some of the places in Norbury / Streatham - they may not be the prettiest parts of town, but the food will certainly open your eyes and your taste buds.

[Michael Palaeologus]

Mirash every time. Ray is a great guy and the food has been consistantly good over the 18 years that I have been going there.

[Guest]

Mirash gets my vote for curry fave, easily. On another note, it would be nice to have a good Italian place too.

[ivemet-jimmy]

For eating in I have to say Dulwich Tandoori. And for take away I have to say Mirash. They seem to a little quicker than the others, although im not intirly sure thats a good thing! There food is good tho! Maybe a fluke.

[ivemet-jimmy]

Now are we having two votes here? One for best eat in and one for best take out? In my experience They can be very diferent! What do you guys think?

[nutty]

well - Surma for best take out and TN for best eat-in. However - has nobody realised this poll ended a month ago?