Lahore Kebab House - Whitechapel

After managing to pull every muscle in my body at a power plate class on Thursday lunchtime, I decided to ruin all of my hard work by going out for a curry in the evening. After a few beers, we headed to the Lahore Kebab House in East London, which is a Pakistani restaurant. Being rather ignorant of Pakistani food, it seemed to me much like an Anglo-Indian restaurant serving classics like chicken tikka masala.

It’s a BYOB restaurant, with an off license over the road selling Cobra beer. The restaurant itself has a somewhat disheveled feel to it, it’s like a cross between a school canteen and a warehouse. You can tell little time or effort has been put into the decor, but that’s part of its charm. The atmosphere was raucous, with dozens of people squeezed into the restaurant and plenty of beers to go around the chatter was deafening.

Despite being incredibly busy the service was good, the staff were attentive and the food was served quickly. We shared a portion of onion bhajis, which according to my colleagues were the best they’d ever had. They were good, but seemed to contain a variety of vegetables, rather than just onion. I ordered chicken saag for my main; the sauce was nice, but could have done with a little more spice in it. The meat was a bit of a letdown as they used thigh meat off the bone, rather than breast meat. I probably should have ordered lamb instead, which according to Matt, was great.

For starters, main, rice and naan we paid just over £12 each, which is pretty impressive in central London and as you're able to bring your own booze, it was a super cheap night out. Every table was packed, so it’s obviously a popular destination which I’m sure is a lot to do with it beong such great value.

In terms of price, I don’t think it can be beaten. You can tell that everything has been done on a budget, including the food and surroundings. For a Friday night curry with a group of friends, it’s a perfect cheap and cheerful destination to soak up the booze. However, for a quiet meal with friends I’d be inclined to pay more for higher quality food and a more relaxed atmosphere.

Bhajis:

Chicken saag:

Lamb on the bone: