If you had a chance to eat one meal in the UK what would it be? What defines the quintessential British meal?
When Ferran Adria came to London a year ago he was ushered to the traditional pie and mash joint Manzies. Adria eluded at his talk to launch 'A Day At El Bulli' that the he loved pie and mash because it was good simple honest food.
A year later I thought that I'd hop over to Manzies and try their pie and mash. I put a question out on Twitter asking what was the best London Pie And Mash spot noting that I remember Ferran Adria went to Menzies. I got allot of great recommendations back, but a reply from ChrisPople really got me thinking. Chris said that he did not understand why Adria was not taken to Tayyabs. There it was, We needed to lunch at Tayyabs, ditch the Pie N' Mash it was time for a Pakistani feast!
Walking down the rather quite unassuming side street at 2:30 in the afternoon we came upon the blue neon festooned restaurant. The Bear gasped at the sheer volume of people inside. Walking through the door plastered with Harden's this, Zagat that and Time out that stickers it was clear that this place will live up to all the hype that surrounds it. there I was stuck by it, this is restaurant is a British melting pot.
There were tables of gents in suits and ties, doctors in scrubs, scruffy builders, students, artsy types, and even our neighbour. Every skin tone was present and the full gamut of age ranges. All in one building to do one thing, to eat some amazing grub
Our reservation-less wait for a table was rather short and we were shoehorned into our bijou table for two. Our table was not the best for two big boned gents if you know what I mean. The wait staff had to pass everything over another table to get to us, some what off-putting, but giving the promise of amazing food it was not a deal breaker.
Navigating the menu is rather simple as there are not loads of things to choose from. The menu gives the impression that the few thing they do, they should do them good, and that's fine by me. When the waiter took our order he seemed rather disinterested with the whole process. Ordered the lamb Chops,(He looked away) Masala fish (He looked away) and meat samosas to start (he looked away). Hello? Is it too much to give me your attention while you take my order. I decided to play a little game; I played the tourist in a foreign land game when i ordered the the mains. You know the one when you point to the menu item then say 'I'd like.... (cue finger point to Karani Ghost Lamb) and the (cue finger point to Karani Chicken). You get the point (HA) But he was still rather preoccupied with the dishes of sizzling lamb chops and chicken whirring past leaving intoxicatingly delicious fumes of exhaust in their wake. I thought oh well, we came here to eat great food, not be treated like best of friends by the staff.
Plate after plate of sizzling things whirred passed us, the tension was building, I was dying to get my hands on them chops. A few moments passed and the samosas came to the table. Two golden parcels of thickish pastry encased the nicely spiced lamb mince and pea filling. Initially I was underwhelmed by them, but then the flavour really kicked in and I had a slow burning love for them.
A about 7 minutes passed (who is counting) and we received a jug of rather subtle mango flavoured Mango Lassi. The bear described it as sipping rice pudding. Fair comment. Plate after plate of sizzling chops and tandoori bits n' bobs whizz past our table which was beginning to feel like Chinese water torture. Another 5 minutes pass, a coveted sizzling plate of chops and such comes whirring in our direction only to be dropped off at a table that came in AFTER us and ordered AFTER us. RED FLAG!
Never one to make a fuss, another 10 minutes pass then I mustered the desire to get the attention of another server. He acknowledged my presence and said that our food was coming. Mind you this was about 22 minutes after the samosas were devoured.
Another five minutes passed and I could hear the sound of sizzling sneaking up from behind. Plopped on to our table was a plate with 2 chucks of Masala fish.
I said to the bear 'The world must be coming to an end and all the food is coming now!' We tuck into the fish, when I feel a hand on the shoulder I turn to the waiter. he informs me that they are now out of the Lamb Chops. If looks could kill it's be writing this from prison. Then like rapid fire our bijou table was covered in plates of sizzeling aromatic food.
Amid my sulking of the Lamb Chops that got away I stirred enough enthusiasm to eat what was presented. The fork tender meat of the Karani Ghost was in a well seasoned sauce that had a proper balance of heat and spice. The Bear's Karani Chicken was much of the same same. The spinach in the Sag Aloo tasted of fresh from the can so it was not too impressive.
The real standout was the billowy ghee glazed Nan bread. When it arrived at the table we asked for another because it looked so good! Boy was it as good as it looked. Did the second nan arrive? What do you think? No!
All in all the food was good, an excellent value and the restaurant had a great buzz, but hopefully we had a bit of bad luck with the service.
Would we come back? Not as a destination, but If we were stumbling around the east end then maybe.
Why not make the effort to return? In comparison to the Painted Heron and the AMAZING Indian takeaway that delivers to our door, Tayyabs was not that special. Don't get me wrong, the food was good, but if they cant male the effort to serve me chops I cant make the effort to return!
