Occasionally need a London Sizzler “fix” and made it back this weekend. It’s probably been a year since I’ve been.
I love their papadum with 2 sauces and onions, all of which is $1.99. The green sauce is a spicy cilantro sauce and the darker sauce is a sweet sauce. The papadum is so flavorful, but with that green sauce it’s wonderful.
Spicy Indian food is best with cold beer, and I ordered a Kingfisher but they were out and the server said she heard they may quit producing it???! [Edited to add: this is a bad rumor. According to Google, Kingfisher has over 35% of the Indian market and is expanding] Anyway, she recommended Taj Mahal and it was cold and adequate for the job.
For a second app, the table ordered the Special Mogo dish, which is fried and sauced yucca with jalapenos. Excellent.
For mains, there was shrimp curry and chicken tikka masala (the national dish of England for good reason) with garlic bullet naan.
Normally I would add their superior version of saag paneer and some raita to cool things off, but as it is, most of this came home. Apparently, this is a favorite stop for Houston’s celeb chef Chris Shepherd.
London Sizzler is in the same center as Himalaya which has a very different menu and I’m so glad for both of them. One of these days I’ll try some of the other stores and restaurants in the center, of which there are many in this Mahatma Gandhi District (even the street signs say this now). Shiv Sagar is a veg restaurant next to London Sizzler, and on the other side is a sweets shop.
Excellent report and drool worthy pictures. Thank you for all the detail. i love pappadums. I have bought some at Indian grocers and just toast them in the toaster and eat even if I don’t have any chutneys. The green chutney is hard to keep on hand; it disappears fast!
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Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
3
Just by the by, chicken tikka masala is NOT Britain’s favourite dish.
Then, as now, there was absolutely no evidence to support the claim. And, in fact, when you consider the British restaurant and takeaway industry, it’s clear that it was a nonsense claim. That said, it may well be the most ordered dish in “Indian” restaurants. As I suspect most folk here probably know, it’s a bastardised British invention. The most usual claim is that it was invented at the Shish Mahal restaurant in Glasgow. Cook was born just 10 miles south of Glasgow, so may well have had an affinity for a local dish.
Yes, that comment was largely tongue in cheek though it is often refered to as such, and even states it on this menu, so the off the cuff comment has taken on a life of its own. I must say, when I land in London, Indian food is first on my list of wants!
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
5
And, increasingly, you’ll be able to find genuine Indian food, rather than the Anglicised versions of many thousands of high street curry houses. The number of curry houses in my metro area will be very well into three figures but I understand only half a dozen or so are owned by people of Indian descent (vast majority are owned by Bangladeshis).
Interesting. Without getting too off topic (and off region) here, what do you recommend? I typically visit 1-2 times a year and always stay at a location near the Tower Bridge Tube Stop. In that area, Rajasthan II is a favorite. Also Halal is nice because it’s very nearby and open at the weekends where most eateries in the area are not. Also Cafe Spice is nearby.
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
7
I’m not usually looking for Indian food when I visit London but we have enjoyed Cafe Spice Namaste. Mrs Todiwala (wife of chef) runs front of house and recommended I have the lamb dhansak. They are Parsees and she explained that, for their community, this dish was the equivalent of a British Sunday lunch roast - iconic. It was excellent.
