Restaurants

Surrounded by the regulation urban kebab and tikka takeaways, Mai’da – with its cream walls, calligraphic paintings, mood lighting and dark-wood furniture – has upmarket aspirations. The name is Arabic for dining table; in Urdu it means flour. The extensive menu is ambitious, incorporating North Indian, Pakistani, Parsi and Indo-Chinese influences. Alcohol isn’t allowed, so we ordered sweet lassi. Starters of lamb chops and kachay aam ka murgh tikka (tangy chicken tikka wrapped around a green-mango and coriander filling), were melt-in-the-mouth and worthy of London’s best Indian restaurants. Main courses were variable. Nimbu aur hare dhaniye ka murgh was a chicken curry supposedly flavoured with lemon and coriander, but tasting like weak soup. Seafood tawa biriani was bland too, with none of the sharpness of tomatoes and onion that distinguishes good seafood biriani (nor any hint that a tawa grill had been used). Dinner was redeemed by khade masala ka gosht, lamb flavoured with crushed spices (black peppercorns, cumin, cardamom, cloves and bay leaf), and the roomali roti. We ended the meal with the satisfying sugar buzz of falooda. Mai’da has all the ingredients for greatness – but should pare down its menu and focus on its strengths.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2009