In a previous column, we asked whether a rich restaurant scene might perhaps- invisible to the uninitiated – lurk on the Isle of Dogs. ‘I’ve lived there for 18 years’, replied one reader discouragingly, ‘and I haven’t found it’. On a more positive note, there were some concrete suggestions. A number of the more oft-recommended places, however – The Gun and Elephant Royale – were already well-known to us and covered in our guide. So was our plea for help in vain? Not at all, for a couple of nominations came in for one restaurant that had so far not registered on our radar.
It was, therefore, with a rare sense of anticipation that we ventured to the nether reaches of the peninsula to find what turned out to be this rather modest Indian. Its location – ten minutes’ walk from Crossharbour DLR, at the far end of a depressing row of shops and offices, which were distinctly unpopulated at midday – is obscure even by E14 standards. The area, however, was not as devoid of custom as the restaurant itself, in which your reviewer lunched alone.
The recently refurbished setting is understated and comfortable, though, and must be pretty in the evenings, when – we are assured – the place is packed. (For the summer there is also a pleasant terrace with a view of the ‘working’ Thames.) Our lunch was thoroughly well done – if in a very standard way – but the prices are certainly very reasonable. In fact, for once, a singular lunch – admittedly without a pud or coffee – failed even to breach the £20 barrier. Thank you, Mr Briscoe, for the tip: the bottle of Rémy Martin Fine Champagne Cognac is on its way.
