Masala Zone, Covent Garden

Grand Vegetarian Thai

Last Wednesday night Becks and I met with my sister and her husband at Masala Zone in Covent Garden for a late exchange of Christmas presents over dinner. Dishoom has taken the mantle as the most popular Indian in Covent Garden, but with queues there reaching stupid proportions and a no booking policy for small groups we gave Masala Zone a go.

Speaking to people in the office, thalis (a meal of small dishes) seemed to be the dish of choice. The last thali I had was on the rooftop of a restaurant over looking the Taj Mahal. The location, friendly service, tasty food and amazing value of India was going to take some beating.

I started by ordering a chaas which was advertised as a low fat lassi. What arrived was nothing like a low fat mango lassi that I had envisaged / hoped for. It was a relatively thin yoghurt drink with a heavy dose of cumin and coriander. It took a few sips to adjust my expectations and then I enjoyed it.

As a main course I ordered the grand vegetarian thali. You are allowed to select one curry for the thali and I chose the paneer curry.

If I'm honest the food wasn't outstanding, but it's a solid option in Covent Garden if you want reasonably priced food and quick service. I'd happily go back.

Masala Zone
48 Floral Street
Covent Garden
London
WC2E 9DA

Pompeii @ Britist Museum: a night of over charging

Last Friday night I went to see the Pompeii and Herculaneum exhibition at the British Museum. I left work early and strolled through Holborn to the museum trying one of the new McDonalds smoothies along the way. (Could become a summer value favourite.)

I was sitting on the wall outside the museum waiting for Becks, when I was descended on by a group of Chinese students in London for the summer. With seemingly no respect for personal space they ate their picnics to the left, right, in front and virtually on top of me. Picnics demolished they dropped their bags at my feet and headed into the museum. Did they think I was going to look after them while they were gone? It was all quite odd.

Work support the museum and one of the staff perks is that we get two free exhibition tickets. When I went to collect my pre-booked tickets they would only give one of them to me for free. Overcharge number one of the night.

I thought the exhibition itself was pretty good. It's almost impossible to believe the exhibits are 2,000 years old they are so well preserved. My favourites were the mosaics, fresco's and the mummified body that had been cast in resin.

I would have liked to have seen more of the photos of Pompei and Herculaneum and to have learnt more about the eruption which buried the city.

On the way out of the museum we stopped in the gift shop and were charged for too many postcards. Overcharge number two.

After the museum we walked to Great Queen Street for dinner. Housed inside a pub, and retaining some of the original character, Great Queen St is now firmly a restaurant serving British food from a compact menu.

The restaurant had a good atmosphere and the staff were friendly and attentive (although were harder to get hold of as the restaurant got busier). 

We opted for the chicken and girolles pie for two (£32). The substantial pie had a crunchy pastry topping and a generous filling of chicken and girolles mushrooms. I enjoyed the pie, but didn't love it finding that I needed to add extra seasoning and at £32 without any accompaniments it was pretty steep. It might be a little harsh, but I'm calling it overcharge number three of the night.

Great Queen Sreet
32 Great Queen Street
Covent Garden
London
 

Restaurant Review: Dishoom, Covent Garden, London

Vada Pau - India's answer to the chip butty!

Catching up with a friend over from Singapore gave me the opportunity to try one of the places on my wish list; Dishoom in Covent Garden. Armed with some recommendations from my colleague (who sent me on an successful trip to East Ham), I was excited to see how Dishoom compared.

We started with a vada pau which describes itself as 'Bombay's answer to (the) chip butty'. The previous vada I've eaten have all been dough based, but this one was a mix of mash potato, mustard seeds and spices covered in gram flour and then deep fried. The vada was enhanced by the ghati masala (ground red chilli) and green chutney served on the side. We added both with gusto. The chutney was my favourite bringing some extra spices and moisture. The toasted bun was complete carb excess, but made for a great guilty pleasure.

Bhel

I ordred the bhel based on my friend's recommendation without reading the description on the menu. The bowl of puffed rice, pomegranate, mint, tomato, onion, lime and a tamarind dressing was more colourful and exotic than I was expecting. I particularly liked the explosions of fresh pomegranate, balanced by the gentle sour of the tamarind dressing. I haven't seen an Indian dish like this before, but would happily order it again.

Black dhal

The black dhal (£4.90) was the recommendation from my colleague who claimed it was particularly authentic. It was a rich, cream based dhal that was different to any of the lighter lentil dishes I've eaten before.

Three different chutneys came with our meal. I'm not sure if you're supposed to add the chutneys to the dhal, but I found it helped to break some of the richness and add extra variety.

Spicy lamb chops

Our final dish was the spicy lamb chops (£11.50). The chops were marinated in lime juice, jaggery, ginger, garlic and spices and then char grilled. The chops were juicy on the inside, charred on the outside and well worth the sticky fingers from gnawing on the bones.

Naan bread, rice and pickles

The Bombay style street / café food served at Dishoom was new to me. It's definitely worth a try if you are in the Covent Garden area and in need of a feed. The seats upstairs have a better atmosphere than the table downstairs, so make sure you ask to be seated on street level.

Have a look at my maps page to see all the places in London I have eaten.

Dishoom
12 Upper St Martin’s Lane
London 
WC2H 9FB

Restaurant Review: Simpson's in The Strand, Covent Garden

Steak and kidney pudding (not pie) - £16.50

Last Saturday I met my parents in Covent Garden for lunch. The London food scene is still completely alien to me. I need to find some good London food blogs and put together a wish list of places to go.

Tourist traps like Covent Garden are difficult in any city. Having previously been to Rules we decided to try Simpson's in the Strand for some seasonal British food.

Stepping into the wooden panelled dining room with pressed white table clothes, silver cutlery and chandeliers hanging from the ceiling is like going back in time. The waiters are all dressed in suits and while aiming for silver service, they don't quite achieve it. Being a waiter at Simpon's probably isn't the profession it once was.

Soup of the day: pumpkin and carrot - £7.75

I chose the pumpkin and carrot soup of the day. Pleasant without being exceptional the soup came served a bit too hot.

Rolled and stuffed sucking pig - £22

Next up was the stuffed suckling pig with braised cabbage. The accompanying mustard sauce was served in a gravy boat that was poured at the table. The gravy boat seems very much part of Simpson's style. Four out of the five dishes we ordered were accompanied by gravy boats.

The suckling pig had the hoped for crispy crackling surrounding tender pork. The braised cabbage had a nice tang while the gravy made the apple sauce redundant.

Simpson's was a fun re-introduction to the London food scene. A visit to Simpson's isn't really about the food, but more about the experience of the traditional dining room. The food was enjoyable without being spectacular.

Other dishes eaten at the table:

Fiscake with poached egg - £12

Special of the day: pork escalope with mushroom sauce - £20

Beer served in a silver tankard

Simpson's-in-the-Strand
100 Strand
Holborn
London
WC2R 0EW