Anokha

it was friday night, after 9pm and we’d just arrived in london and checked into our hotel. the plan had been to have dinner in the restaurant downstairs but after a totally underwhelming response from the bartender and a seriously sad atmosphere in the restaurant we decided to try our luck somewhere else. after a quick Unilocal sure Anokha popped up being a five minute walk from the hotel. the reviews looked decent, it was still open, and we were hungry so we decided to try our luck.
thankfully luck was in our favour as Anokha was not only open but had a table available for us and a much more welcoming atmosphere than the hotel restaurant. although we were initially sat next to a rather loud group of young men, when we asked to be moved the waiter was more than happy to put us some place a bit quieter. the restaurant is a good size and was surprisingly busy for that time of night. we got a nice table along the wall although you had to move the table out of the way so that someone could sit down on the bench behind it. it’s also a bit dark but i don’t know if that was because we were there at night or it’s just how the keep the restaurant. but doesn’t really take away from the overall ambience.
they have a good varied menu with your typical curry dishes and also some specialty dishes. we skipped starters and just had poppadums with a pickle tray that had really tasty spicy onions and a yogurt dip along with lime pickle and mango chutney. we went for a chicken dish and a lamb shank dish (of names i cannot remember) along with pilau rice and garlic nan. food arrived in good time and it was all really tasty. my chicken dish was a bit spicier than i had expected so thankfully my boyfriend offered to trade so i could have more of the lamb shank. the lamb was super tasty with a bit of spice so much more to my taste. the white wine we had with the meal was quite nice and reasonably priced.
while the food was really good, what really stuck with me was the level of service. the waiters were attentive, helpful, and friendly. they were move than happy to move us when we requested it and apologised for the loud table even though this really had nothing to do with them. they recommended dishes we may like and provided a quick service which is always great when it’s late and you just want dinner without a lot of fuss. i’d recommend this place if somewhere is looking for a good curry in the area that we stayed and possibly re-​visit if i was nearby next time i’m in london.

Great Indian food. Lal Mas (spicy tender lamb cubes in red sauce with spring onions & cherry tomatoes) was excellent. Just the right amount of spicy for those who enjoy spicy! Tandoori platter as appetizer excellent — prawn, especially.

Absolutely fabulous. Went with friends who live in London while I was visiting and had unbelievable Indian food, amazing service and the ambiance is great too. Loved it! I’d be a regular if they had this in NYC.

A great restaurant for Indian food. If you love to feed on spicy and exotic Indian food items then this is the right place for you.

Good food, good selection of dishes and great service. I asked for my chicken vindaloo to be very spicy, but it was more like medium. Tasty garlic naan is worth having. Smallish space gives it an intimate feel. Might be tough to find, they have two locations.

Had a recent visit at this restaurant and I’ve got to say that I enjoyed my stay. I have that thing for Indian food and every time I see an Indian restaurant I havent visited yet, I make sure I do. Same happened here.
Decoration of the place if pretty nice, its perfect for a business lunch and yet not that good for every-​day visit altho the prices were affordable. Its spacious, has enough places for a big group or even a party.
I’m a big fan of curry and here it was prepared really good, I could even say that it was one of the best I’ve ever eaten and believe me I’ve had a lot.
As a starter I had a Mixed Platter (Chicken tikka, sheek kebab & pakoras) which was nice, but nothing special really. Then for the main dish I ordered Madras Chicken (boneless chicken cooked in hot curry sauce), and it was fantastic, I suppose mainly because of the curry sauce, meat was fresh and tasty.
I’ll be sure to visit this place more often.

If I want to go for a nice curry lunch, most likely I’ll choose Anokha. The basement location (of course it’s in the basement — it’s a City restaurant…) is quite nice and not your usual curry house. It’s pretty bright (despite being in the basement), and you don’t have an overpowering hit of curry when you walk in. Basically, it’s posh curry.
The poppadoms (which are GBP 1.20 a portion whatever that is) were good and the sauces served with it (a selection of four — the usual yoghurt, mango chutney, onion-​tomatoey thing, and a lemony tasting sauce) were good but nothing out of the ordinary. We started with the mixed starter for four which had a selection of paneer, chicken tika, lamb sheesh kebab, samosa and onion bahji. Looking at the menu online, I see that Anokha lists other items for the mixed starter so I am not sure if we actually received different items, or if I am just mixing up my Indian food. Regardless, it was all nice except the lamb which I found a little greasy. For my main I had the Chicken Rogan Josh which was nice and light but surprisingly lacked a little flavour. This is actually quite critical, as I’d prefer this over a heavier curry any day. I am not a curry expert so I won’t spend time comparing the other dishes my companions got except to say that they were all excellent.
The service at Anokha was great, and the food was good too. I am not a massive curry fan at lunch, just because I find it quite heavy, but I like this place every once in a while. It would be my number one choice for curry in this part of the City.
Décor: Upmarket curry. Nice enough for a nice business lunch.
Price: It’s not a cheap curry joint. The mains are about GBP14.
Food: Great
Good For: A nice corporate lunch where your companions want curry and you want to go somewhere slightly more upmarket.