Chambeli Restaurant

After a week in egypt we were craving some good Indian food. We ordered saag and dhal… although the taste was okay the food was very bland and over priced. We got some achar to add some spice too it… and then it was good.

Worst Indian food I’ve ever eaten. Waiter constantly tried to sell me more items, to the point of harassment. The dish I order (bindi masala) had no sauce and was dry as a bone.

Definitely avoid. The service was pushy and kept asking us if we wanted different drinks or appetizers. When we said no thank you they brought them out anyway and said they were complimentary, except they ended up on our bill. We asked them to remove the charges and they did, but then added a «service charge.»
The food was good, but definitely not worth the annoyance of the service.

So far the service is a little pushy and not very pleasant. Wife was not hungry and just wanted some side items but they said she had to order a main dish, very strange.
On to the food, presentation excellent, quality excellent, overall a nice place, they are just a bit British.

This is strictly a tourist review, although I haven’t seen a Londoner review this, so it could be a strictly a tourist restaurant. I was craving Chicken Tikka Masala, a curry dish born in London, and this place was conveniently located near my hotel.
1. Lassi/​Mango Lassi — really sweet and thirst-​quenching. Pretty good lassis.
2. Naan and rice — fluffy naan, fluffy rice. Nothing went wrong here.
3. Chicken Makhni (Chicken Tikka Massala) — It was… alright. A bit on the bland side, but the creaminess consistency was spot-​on. Goes well with my rice and naan.
4. Chicken Curry — I never order «curry» in an Indian restaurant because technically there is no actual «curry» dish. But my dining mate insisted and then she didn’t like it. I didn’t like it either. The cilantro flavor actually reminded me of Mexican cuisine. «Curry» dishes are a gamble after all.

Hmm… disappointing. We were looking forward to have some good Indian food while we were in London, and this place advertises to have the «best Indian food» and also won some award for food and service. But we were being «spontaneous» and paid the price for not Unilocaling ahead.
Food was mediocre to bland, really no flavor to it. We tried 2 kinds of curry and both were very tasteless. Décor… It felt like we were at a pizza place with some Indian décor on the wall and slapped a white table cloth on the table. Tasteless food with «meh» atmosphere with 4 star price was very upsetting. We are so used to good Indian food for cheap price in the bay area, so we felt even worse.
We heard our next table customer complaining about the «service» charge that was added on to their bill. Sure enough our bill had the service charge added on. My husband almost always left tips while travelling throughout UK but glad we noticed that they pre-​charged the tip on our bill. We prefer to leave tips when we felt like leaving it, not being extorted!

I thought that this place was very good. My mother, who isn’t necessarily culinarily adventurous, found it quite pleasing as well. I ordered a curry lamb dish, my mother a curry chicken. I asked for it spicy and it had a nice kick. She asked for hers mild, and it was flavorful yet smooth and creamy. I was a huge fan…

I ate here my first night in London not knowing where else to go. I’d just spent the entire day at the British museum and this was midway between there and my hostel. I saw it on the way home and decided I could go for some great Indian food.
The interior was quite classy and welcoming. I ordered the lamb vindaloo and plain naan for takeaway. The man at the bar said «You realize the vindaloo is very spicy, right?» I said yes and to make it spicy how they normally make it. I wanted spicy.
Everything came out in about 15 minutes and I went back to my hostel to eat my food. Yet when I got home, I realized that everything was so greasy. The naan was okay but seemed a bit too doughy. The vindaloo was extremely greasy and spicy, but not nearly as spicy as a proper vindaloo should be. I should have completely clear sinuses after a good vindaloo. This was not it. More than that, the lamb was overcooked (tough and extremely gamey). It wasn’t the worst Indian food I’ve had, but I have definitely had better elsewhere.

I ate here last night… I was craving Indian food and it was apparent this one was the only Indian around the corner.
I ordered the Lamb Curry and Kama Naan (with meat inside) and Rice. The Lamb was really good. I’ve only had it a couple of times and this one was pretty tasty. The Naan bread was «ok» the meat looked like meat paste, not too appealing. The rice had a nice aroma to it and it was GOOOOOD!
The servers were nice and welcoming, but not too talkative :(which i like to do.

Every Saturday evening whilst my husband was a patient @ The Neurological Hospital in Queens Square we’d head off to the Chambeli for dinner. The service was lovely, they’d make room for his wheelchair and give us time to get sorted before they’d take our order. I can’t recommend the lamb tikka birryani enough. The food is non greasy, good quality indian food, and the mango kulfi is divine.