With Who: a whole heap of reprobates
How much: £30 a head for curry, rices and breads, (a lot of) lager and service
Come here if: you've run out of options in King's Cross and can't face the walk into town
So we needed a curry house. For ten people. Nothing too clever or too different but somewhere that would satisfy my foodie pretensions. And, at the request of Lebanese Al, over for a very short visit from Beirut, somewhere that served Chicken Tikka Masala... oh yeah, and we needed it in King's Cross.
Sometimes a total lack of options helps sharpen the focus. Once we'd ruled out the fantastic Eritrean restaurant Addis (for its lack of Tikka Masala) and veto'ed the shit in a tray merchants along Pentonville Road we were left with one choice, Salaam Namaste. I say only one choice, it had been checked out slightly. Telegraph critic Matthew Norman has rated it his favourite Indian restaurant in London and it's the only one in the area covered by Charles Campion's excellent local restaurant guide. Preparation prevents piss poor performance. Or so my teachers told me. And thankfully it's true in this case, preparation led us to a pot of gold.
It certainly doesn't look like much. Large open windows, bright generic decor and furnishings combine with the sub continental muzak to make the place timeless and placeless, and not in good ways. The food on the other hand is as lively, fresh and refined as you could want for. Poppadoms and zingy pickles took the edge off our hunger as we scanned the diverse menu. They don't seem to have any regional specialism, bouncing from West to East coast taking in
My lamb barra kebabs, an Afghan speciality, were small but perfectly formed. Cooked to a deep pink and charred on the outside by the heat of the tandoor, the spice kick came after a sweet and unusual taste of kachri or dried cucumber powder, a regional ingredient and not one i've tasted before. A 'tarragon' squid dish also stood out, partly because the predominant herb was a clean and (for sub continental cuisine) unusual shot of dill. The squid was soft and sweet, like al dente pasta of the sea.
The mains were similarly intriguing. They too zipped around the region, like a hyper-active Michael Palin, taking in treats from Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Pakistan and every nook of India. Conventional curries lurked for the unadventurous. A dry beef curry came spicy with citrus sour kick and a wonderfully subtle Welsh lamb biriyani arrived authentically and theatrically with the bone protruding through a thin dough 'lid'. Other standouts included a refreshing and light Goan green curry with tangy tamarind and a clever vegetable side of mixed peppers and onions dry fried with a coconut crusting. The targeted Tikka Masala was pronounced perfection on a plate by Lebanese Al, but the sauce was too astringent for me. The chicken was well enough cooked but I didn't feel the love here.
It wasn't particularly busy but we didn't arrive till 9.30. At lunch, and earlier in the evening, I've a feeling it'll be packed with lawyers from the many nearby courts though it's cheap enough and authentic enough to garner an audience among the sub continental students around Russell Square.
Salaam indeed...
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