Revoo
It's Lumbini, in Uxbridge. Or it might be in Denham, I'm not sure. That's the problem with London, the only indication that you are anywhere new is local perception. "Being on this road now means you are in Hillingdon", I would tend to be helpfully informed.
This is a bit of a change for me because it's in fact my first experience of a Nepalese restaurant. The notable difference to a usual curryhouse is their making it of a full evening out (in contrast to the sort of place where you are rushed out with the bill as soon as the starter arrives). So we arrived between 7 and 7.30, and ate a main around 10? This was because we had poppadoms, after which our starter order was taken, we had starters, after which our main order was taken. Dessert didn't seem to be an option, but we heading back for birthday cake anyway.
I couldn't work out if it was bad waiting on (i.e. not taking all the food order) or a deliberate move, but in any case, since they make all the food exactly to order (on balance I view this as good) it did involve a lot of waiting (and I was hungry!). I amused James' nan by consuming lots of Nepalese lager to pass the time. (And you know my usual sparkling wit and conversation).
The poppadoms were excellent because the mango chutney was actually made fresh with actual mangoes. This I have never seen before. For my starter I had "Poko Poko" which was little vegetable wrap things with tamarind sauce (I guess this is more Nepalese?) and it was quite good. For my main (in a new idea I've had for reviewing) I had the house special / chefs recommended / whatever such a dish is called. It was (ah yes - signature dish) Kukuhura Lumbini, advertised as being in dopiaza style (I disagree due to no visible onions) and containing ingredient X (either coconut or was sadly drowned in coconut). I accompanied this with a chili garlic naan. This was good because it was quite a mild dish - another trademark of theirs, they only add chillis when you ask them, but I think, there are other ways to make spicy than just adding chili at the end - and so coupled with the naan made it up to the right spice.
Others found the traditionally bland things too bland, which is probably not great. The lemon rice did not meet up to The Bengal's standards. I struggle to compare to IH (I think in fairness, the naan here was IH good which must add half a point). It certainly was a different than usual experience. Is it better than The Raj, our other Uxbridge friend? Probably I would say so, then, yes (although we went there again and I liked it better than the time I reviewed it.)
During the pauses waiting for food I gave it "9...8...7...6...5" out of 10, however, on reflection, I give it 7 and a half. It might have been 6 and a half but they gave James and his mum a birthday present in the form of a Buddha statue of which I was jealous.
Since the modern thing to do would be to start adding links, here you are:
http://www.lumbini-restaurant.co.uk/
This is a bit of a change for me because it's in fact my first experience of a Nepalese restaurant. The notable difference to a usual curryhouse is their making it of a full evening out (in contrast to the sort of place where you are rushed out with the bill as soon as the starter arrives). So we arrived between 7 and 7.30, and ate a main around 10? This was because we had poppadoms, after which our starter order was taken, we had starters, after which our main order was taken. Dessert didn't seem to be an option, but we heading back for birthday cake anyway.
I couldn't work out if it was bad waiting on (i.e. not taking all the food order) or a deliberate move, but in any case, since they make all the food exactly to order (on balance I view this as good) it did involve a lot of waiting (and I was hungry!). I amused James' nan by consuming lots of Nepalese lager to pass the time. (And you know my usual sparkling wit and conversation).
The poppadoms were excellent because the mango chutney was actually made fresh with actual mangoes. This I have never seen before. For my starter I had "Poko Poko" which was little vegetable wrap things with tamarind sauce (I guess this is more Nepalese?) and it was quite good. For my main (in a new idea I've had for reviewing) I had the house special / chefs recommended / whatever such a dish is called. It was (ah yes - signature dish) Kukuhura Lumbini, advertised as being in dopiaza style (I disagree due to no visible onions) and containing ingredient X (either coconut or was sadly drowned in coconut). I accompanied this with a chili garlic naan. This was good because it was quite a mild dish - another trademark of theirs, they only add chillis when you ask them, but I think, there are other ways to make spicy than just adding chili at the end - and so coupled with the naan made it up to the right spice.
Others found the traditionally bland things too bland, which is probably not great. The lemon rice did not meet up to The Bengal's standards. I struggle to compare to IH (I think in fairness, the naan here was IH good which must add half a point). It certainly was a different than usual experience. Is it better than The Raj, our other Uxbridge friend? Probably I would say so, then, yes (although we went there again and I liked it better than the time I reviewed it.)
During the pauses waiting for food I gave it "9...8...7...6...5" out of 10, however, on reflection, I give it 7 and a half. It might have been 6 and a half but they gave James and his mum a birthday present in the form of a Buddha statue of which I was jealous.
Since the modern thing to do would be to start adding links, here you are:
http://www.lumbini-restaurant.co.uk/