Lahore Kebab House, 2 Umberston Street, Whitechapel, London

It’s not often that people have their company dinners in a kebab house, and lots of groups seem to do that here, so you know this place is good.

I’ve been here before, and like how the menu is basically an A4 laminated paper instead of some Yellow Pages style wedge.

Lamb chop £7 (you have to try this one out)

This is such a fantastic dish, I don’t really want anyone to know about it, but hey, call me generous (and buy me dinner). Recommended to us by a friend who knows his stuff, this is one dish we order each time we’re here, despite it being one of the pricier items, and there isn’t much of it either on the plate.

When it arrives at the table, you’d better beat the other diners to it. Even if you have to hold it caveman-style, while tearing at the meat with your gnashers, it’s worth the effort.

Marinated in some of the most delicious spices (so delicious I don’t know what it is), these little chops are grilled till just cooked, so that they’re not chewy but incredibly soft and tender to the bite.

Chicken tikka curry £5.50

Very often, the curries with the vague names (ie medium meat curry) turn out to be the best dishes in the meal. I’m not saying that chicken tikka curry is not specific enough (after all, you know it’s chicken which is a starting point) but I guess the type of curry it is, is to be determined. Not that I know the difference anyway between one spicy-looking orange dish from another.

Taste-wise, it was curry-ish. With such obvious talent for describing food, I’d place bets on myself becoming one of the most successful food bloggers soon (as in, I’d place the bets soon, not become successful soon).

Sag paneer £5.50

When my friend asked if we could order this, she almost apologetically implied that it would be quite a gooey dish, thus an acquired taste for most. Thing is, I have eaten other versions of this dish elsewhere before, and quite like the gooey-ness, although it does get a bit much after a few mouthfuls. I’m all up for green cheesey spinach, but there’s only so much of that one can take.

Thus it was almost quite disappointing when this dish arrived at the table, goo-free. It seems the type of cheese, or paneer, they use here is quite different from the ones used in other places. The ones here stay cube-like, goo-free, and taste like tofu. Not necessarily a bad thing as I quite like tofu, and overall, this meant that the dish maintained its green, fresh taste without being blanded out by the cheese.

Quail curry £7

Not often do you see quail curry on a menu. Not often do you see quail anything, actually. Since a quail is less than half the size of the balti dish, that kind of half poultry looking thing on the left of the picture is the quail. Not much meat on it, to be honest, and if the prices for both chicken and quail curries are the same, you get more value for money with the chicken. I know they don’t give you the WHOLE chicken, but it’s still more than what you get from the quail.

Fish curry £5.50

This place gets their fish curry just right; not too cooked but just to the perfect texture. It doesn’t specify what fish it was, but it was flaky and lovely, with quite a few pieces in the dish too. Taste-wise, I couldn’t really tell the curries apart, besides what meat was used in it, so I won’t even try to describe it here. Spicy, perhaps.

Would I recommend this place? Most definitely, I wouldn’t have reviewed it twice otherwise.

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