Chowki

Chowki is a low-budget venue close to Piccadilly Circus. It makes a big deal of its many regional Indian cooking promotions, and we've had excellent meals here in the past. On our most recent visit, however, we needed culinary detective work to differentiate some dishes from everyday curry-house staples. We were presented with no less than four menus, some of them giving conflicting information. 'You need to order a vegetarian main course with this one,' our waiter said scornfully, before realising his mistake and then wandering off without an apology. The dishes we tried were all perfectly acceptable, yet only a few were better than average. Yam curry was the highlight, a coconutty dish bursting with fresh spice flavours; but dhaba lamb curry was chewy, not quite slow-cooked for long enough. At least the nan breads, crisp but dripping with hot ghee, were tip-top. At the far end of our shared table, the manager was having his staff lunch when two school-age, self-styled 'charity workers' strolled in shaking their collection buckets at customers. Instead of chasing them out, the disinterested manager carried on eating.