Both myself and Miss P were agreed on going out for some cheap & cheerful Indian, when we were arranging our next restaurant visit. We had both fancied Tayyabs, but several food bloggers had given me warning that it was only a buffet during Ramadan and no booze was allowed, so Tayyabs was scratched for another time in favour of another highly rated Indian, Lahore Kebab House.

I had booked a table, although due to a bit of geographical misunderstanding (Miss P & I arranged to meet at a pub on Commercial St, when Lahore Kebab House is off Commercial Rd), we were about 15 minutes late and were kept for another 15 minutes to be seated (which coincidentally was about the same amount of time it took for everyone in the queue in front of us to be seated).  We did get a table for four for ourselves though, which, looking around us, was pretty unusual, most people sharing tables with others.

Lahore Kebab House is one of those few, select restaurants that seem to focus 95% of their effort on getting the food right and 5% on everything else. The decor of bright, fluorescent lights, several TV’s, formica tables and canteen style eating won’t appeal to a fair few people, but I guess that doesn’t matter when you’re serving excellent cuisine.

Having been seated and presented with a couple of laminated menus, we borrowed a bottle opener for our BYO beers Miss P had selected (albeit with the assistance of the Off License proprietor) and had a look at what was on offer. I’d heard that the starter of Grilled Lamb chops was a good one, so ordered a portion of those, along with a couple of meat samosas and Mutton Tikka for starters.  The chops were superb. A great mix of spices giving warmth and loads of flavour. Both Miss P & I happily picked the bones clean. The lamb samosas were definitely up there with some of my friend’s Mum’s homemade versions (Mrs S) and the Mutton Tikka pretty good, too.

Balancing our meat-fest starters, we ordered one veggie main course (and two meat ones). I know a dhal is a bog standard kind of dish to most people that cook Indian food a lot, and to be truthful, this wasn’t a great exponent. The Nihari, a lamb shank cooked in a spicy gravy, was fantastic. All the tenderness of cooking this cut of meat for a long period of time with a spicy gravy; this was my favourite dish of the night. The Methi chicken was good, but not spectacular, but the Peshwari Naan bread I thought was absolutely superb. Thin and crispy, but still with a doughy give to it, it made a mockery of some of the big, flaccid lumps of dough you tend to get used to at most curry houses & take aways.

I thought Lahore Kebab House was great and I do like the fact you can bring your own booze. Don’t expect any special treatment or any smiles from the serving staff, but do expect excellent curries (£42 for a complete stuffing) at decent prices. Go.