103- 105 Waterloo Road, London, SE1 8UL
t: 0207 021 0886
w: bangaloreexpress.co.uk
We’ve visited an Indian restaurant, again! This was sheer coincidence as we had no choice but to surrender to the hunger pangs from our stomachs. We were back after visiting an aunt in Camden and decided to take the bus instead of the tube, since we love watching the London life pass by from the upper deck.
We jump off at Waterloo and wander around trying to figure out where to take the next bus from, and come across this restaurant called ‘Bangalore Express.’ By then our stomachs were growling and without a second thought we decided to explore.
The interiors are tastefully done with pale green and white symmetrical designs, and there is also an interactive kitchen. The booths are set to resemble the insides of a train back in India, or so I thought. There are ladders to go up to the top booth and are a bit scary if you are sitting down. The waiters tactfully hold their serving trays in position while climbing up the stairs and you can’t help but cringe in fear of it toppling all over you. Nah, I’m just exaggerating a bit here, but on a serious note, I think it’s a brilliant way of saving space and accommodating more people at the same time.
The menu is not so elaborated, but to the point and not so expensive. I ordered the mango lassi which came in a tall glass, enough to last me through the whole meal. I would have personally preferred it a little more sweet, but it didn’t bother me that much. They also have a fully licensed bar with cocktails and the like. If you prefer that, go ahead, but I must admit they were on the expensive side.
You can order from an array of Tandoori and Tapas dishes and platters to share. There are the ‘Big plates of curry and rice’ deal where you can choose between sea food, mutton, chicken and duck, select the cooking style like roganjosh, vindaloo, kurma etc. You can choose any vegetable and a rice dish from the list as well. All this comes for a meagre 8.50 GBP and is quite filling even though it didn’t look so at first sight.
I opted for this deal – tiger prawns cooked in fiery jalfrezi style served with pulao rice and a side of spinach and yellow peas. It came with a salad and some potato and pepper fry which was not on the menu. The husband ordered a large dosa (a South Indian crepe served on its own with chutney or with any filling) with the spiced duck filling. Again you can choose between vegetable, tandoori chicken, lamb and prawn filling as well.
The filling was quite less compared to the huge dosa and the sambar – a common accompaniment to the Dosa (more like a vegetable stew made with dal and tamarind pulp) was not so great either. The coconut chutney however was really tasty.
I wanted to try out the desserts but I was just too full. They do have about four or five varieties, some of which sounded interesting, especially the Bangalore Express Sundae which had all my favourites.
There is a take away menu, which I’m sure is more or less similar to the main menu and is a good choice for those of you who prefer eating at home.
Final verdict: Flavours were distinct and food was served hot. Service-wise also we didn’t have any complaints, except they added a mandatory 12.5 % service tax on the bill which i think was a bit unnecessary. But on the whole the experience was good and i wouldn’t mind trying it out again.
Busaba Eathai
Wahaca
Moro
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