I M L I

Amazing food, drinks and service! Very authentic and fresh ingredients for everything! Loved everything about this place!

I would say good Indian food but not great. Though it’s hard to say — so much good Indian food in London. I will say, this place seems very polished, cosmopolitan, and Soho-​ish. Probably a bit too trendy for me, but then again when I have Indian it’s usually something we’ve cooked at home. Nonetheless good food, and good drinks!

Great food for the price ! Service was solid. Mild to hot spice range and some nice vegitarian and seafood dishes. Beer selection is rather limited but a fair number of wines.
Lots of seating both upstairs and down. And the washrooms are nice n clean too !
If Im in the area again Ill be back.

My booking from BOokatable did not show up, yet they are being very accommodative and arranged seat immediately. Staff is bubbly and great with recommending portion and food.
The food was very nicely crafted, I would defo recommend one of the starters, the samosa with the pomegranate bits, and just order mint sauce lol on everything, it basically just brings out all the flavour. You can’t go wrong with garlic naans.
Two tables next to me are celebrating birthdays, so as the reviews have suggested it, it is a popular place.
Highly recommended for group celebration!

I keep passing by this place everyday but never tried it until today. Went there for lunch regardless of the reviews and the three star this place got. I loved it so much i might come back here for dinner tonight. The plates were small yet very satisfying and perfectly spiced. the service was great.

Really liked this restaurant in the centre of soho. The food was delicious, service was friendly and they had a nice cocktail menu. Would recommend the prawns in tomato sauce as a main.

Been a couple of times and it has never disappointed. Every dish is delicious and beautifully presented. My personal favourite would be the samosa chaat.
Note that the menu has changed from being more ‘street’ food (it used to have dishes arranged by which area they were inspired from) to a more traditional ‘starters’ and ‘mains’ layout. Luckily most of the dishes are still around!
Very friendly and speedy service too.

All previously vegan-​friendly options have been removed from the menu. Talked to Greg the Manager who explained to me dairy has been added «for the taste» by the head chef. This place used to be a great option for people with allergies but no longer the case. Not returning until this changes. #veganfail

Imli provides a decent brunch with very attentive service. We came here after realizing The Breakfast Club’s line stretched down multiple blocks… darn you, TripAdvisor! My friend enjoyed his English breakfast (Cumberland sausage, two streaky bacon, two fried eggs, spiced beans, fritter and toasted brioche) and I liked the Akuri (Parsi scrambled egg with toasted brioche and chutney). The Akuri was a really interesting combination of flavors, although it could have used some salt. The lattes were also pretty legit.

Very enjoyable dinner with coworkers. All the food was tasty, my lamb shank fell if the bone and melted in my mouth. The samosas were presented in most attractive manner, we actually thought it was dessert. I will probably go back just for the roti and samosaa.

(2.5 stars)
I want to give IMLI 4 stars for the food and 0 for the service which was lackluster and completely indifferent.
We reached around 9.45 pm on Thursday for a late dinner (they are open till 11 pm on weeknights) and besides a few people at the bar, only one other table was occupied for dinner. We were greeted by the host who indicated that a waitress would seat us — when the lady in question saw us, she frowned and then sighed inaudibly — clearly she was not expecting any more guests for the night.
For our meal we got the Tandoori Jhinga (shrimp as our app), Black Daal with 1 Naans and Chicken Biryani for our mains.
5 minutes after we placed the order our waitress was back and said, «we are closing the kitchen and recommend you order more food now…» Since we really didn’t know anything about the quantity of the dishes at IMLI since this was our 1^st time there we were not sure if we needed more food. However, we asked her if 1 Naan would be enough… she recommended we order one more naan as each naan has 2 pieces. Fair enough.
3 minutes later all our food was at the table — app + main course. The naan had 4 pieces — more than enough to share, so we asked the server if he could request our waitress to cancel the additional naan if possible. We heard him walk over to her where she was standing (at the main entrance of the restaurant) and make the request — and her response — a HUGE audible sigh saying «Okay, whatever!». Within the next two minutes, the additional naan was at our table. Our waitress didn’t turn up till after our meal was over…
Now moving onto the real reason we were there — the Food. IMLI is the younger sister of the Michelin-​starred Tamarind (located in Mayfair). IMLI, is a younger, hipper version of Tamarind & serves small plates and some of the other popular dishes of it’s famous counterpart as well.
We liked every thing we tried that evening — which was not much, but was definitely enough for us to give us a taste of why this restaurant is so popular. For me the clear winner was the Tandoori Jhinga and the Black Lentils with garlic naan. This is a killer combination and one can’t and should not go wrong with this combination! The shrimp was grilled to perfection, charred in the right places, tangy and spicy and not overly cooked. The daal was delicious and creamy, but not too creamy and hit the right notes when paired with the garlicky-​naan. The biryani was the traditional dum biryani, layered basmati cooked with the right spices with boneless pieces of chicken. Very fresh and fragrant.
The quantity is not a lot, but enough for two for each dish if you’re not famished. We didn’t bother to try the deserts, we probably would have, but the inhospitality made us quickly settle our check and leave as quickly as possible.
Note — they add a 12.5% service charge to the bill. We let it be and not let the experience spoil our evening.
Will I go back? No. I’ll probably just head to Dhishoom in the same vicinity, where there’s a longer wait, but everyone is always nice!

We’re totally okay with rude service — especially if the food is good. What we’re not okay with is no service at all. There were 5 waiters and only two tables of four. No service, no stars.

I came here with my wife and three year old for dinner one Saturday evening. The chicken tikka masala was excellent, as was the saag paneer. The service was great also. We will definitely be coming here again.

I was asked by some friends to meet them here for brunch after they were unable to get a seat at Breakfast Club around the corner. I’ll be honest and say I had no idea it was an ethnic restaurant. The brunch menu gave little clue, the staff all appeared to be European and the décor felt exactly like a Bill’s.
Three of us ordered the Eggs Benedict, and one ordered the full breakfast. Two Eggs Benedict came, and then after being chased twice, the rest of the breakfasts arrived, after the first two were almost finished. We also had to chase for our coffees a couple of times.
When my food did eventually arrive (on a black plate, a real pet hate of mine) I asked if they had any Sriracha/​Encona or other chilli sauce for the table (I prefer this to ketchup) They said ‘yes of course’ then came back with a pot of sauce, which was actually curry sauce, presumably from one of their evening dishes. This wasn’t what I wanted, but hey ho, not the end of the world. I just didn’t use it. However, I was quite annoyed to find it on the bill for £1.50?! Would they have charged me that for ketchup? Not impressed!
The food itself was… nice. The eggs were cooked well, but I literally got muffin, bacon (not ham) and two eggs. That was it. Not even any salt and pepper (again, we had to chase for these) The staff were pleasant and friendly, but didn’t seem to be too busy considering how slow and disjointed the service was. I left feeling a bit disappointed and ever so slightly peeved, and kind of wishing my friends had just waited at Breakfast Club…

Our weekend in London wouldn’t have been complete without brunch! Now, when I am on my own, I head out to brunch/​breakfast a bit early as I know that places get quite busy. However, we didn’t get going very early, so I was a bit worried about waiting times.
We struck out… TWICE!!! By the time we reached the second place, it was noon, so I was ready for lunch. We walked down Wardour Street because it is one of my favourite streets for dessert :). We happened to be walking by Imli Street and noticed the sign that said they were now serving brunch. We took a look at their menu and they were reasonably busy, so we decided to try it.
Imli Street specializes in Indian Street Food. While there were some items on the brunch menu that may have been Indian influenced, most of the items seemed to be the traditional Western version of breakfast. The staff were very friendly and extremely efficient. I had a bit of trouble deciding because as brunch goes, I like a bit of savoury and a bit of sweet. I suggested to Mr. Snarky that we do something that we did in Chicago… each of us order a dish and then order another to share. Greedy, yes, but a weekend in London topped off with brunch… you should be a bit greedy.
I decided to go with the Bubble and Squeak with a Poached Egg and Crispy Rocket (which our waiter got excited about and said was his favourite) while Mr. Snarky went for the Imli Street Breakfast… essentially an English Breakfast, but with spiced beans and a fritter. For our greedy dish, we ordered a side of the Cinnamon French Toast. While we waited, I had an Americano and Mr. Snarky tried their Banana, Mixed Berry, and Fig Smoothie. I tried the smoothie and have to say that I didn’t really taste any fig, which for me, would have been disappointing had I ordered it, but I think that was ok for Mr. Snarky who would have just wanted a Strawberry Banana smoothie anyway.
When the food came out, we liked the look of the street breakfast and the Bubble and Squeak, but were a bit disappointed with the French Toast. Let’s start off with the pros:
Seasoning in the Bubble and Squeak was a bit Indian inspired
Poached egg was done just right, allowing the yolk to moisten the bubble and squeak
Fritter from the street breakfast was crispy on the outside with a hint of corn and lovely spice (possibly from jalapenos?)
Spiced Beans actually tasted more Mexican than Indian, but they were wonderful as well
And now… to the cons:
Bubble and Squeak was quite dry and could have done with one more poached egg or a sauce
Cinnamon French Toast… all of it.
So here is what I found… humorous about the Cinnamon French Toast. It looked like they took two slices from the Warburton’s Toastie Loaf and dipped it in egg and lightly heat it. There was no hint of cinnamon and the toast was a bit soggy. Now… Mr. Snarky had toasted Brioche under his eggs in his street breakfast. My question is… why wasn’t this lovely Brioche used for the Cinnamon French Toast. More importantly, why wasn’t Cinnamon used??? I guess two out of three ain’t bad, but I think Mr. Snarky and I were really looking forward to the French Toast. Overall, it was pretty good and considering the low cost of all the dishes on the Brunch menu, I think it is a pretty good steal for London.
Also, we noticed something rather interesting… so if you want to order from their regular menu, but want to have it delivered, you can! However, they will add the cost of taxi fare to your bill. An unusual way of doing delivery, but not a bad option if you want to eat in the comfort of your own home!