You could walk past this place, ostensibly a takeaway kebab house, without realising the true gem that lies inside. The terrace blackboards advertise their almuerzo and, at the appropriate time a reasonably priced menu del día (7.95€). But nowhere does it advertise what a rich lode there is waiting for those who venture inside the doorway to this ‘cafe takeaway’.
For our latest review we decided to test the ‘unconventional’; in reality, a typical cafe that you might find in any British city with a big population of ethnic Southern Asians.
We had been told the tandoor was good here. So we booked by phone, asked for extra spicy seekh kebabs and chicken tandoori. They were very accomodating, even to the point of advising us they only had red wine available but agreeing very readily that we could take our own white wines without charge. For the record, there are beer and fizzy drinks as well.
When we arrived we were shown to our table, offered a drink, given the menu and they checked that it was us who had ordered our first courses. So far so good!
We had taken our own white wine, Silencio, a dry moscatel from the co-op in Godelleta (6€.) This is very fresh, quite fruity and has the perfect balance of acidity. It matched all of the dishes.
While we had our beers and cokes we chose our main courses for later and the accompanying breads and rice. There are no papadoms, so don’t expect these to arrive un-announced!
It is a cafe inside, somewhere to sit whilst you wait for your takeaway but there are currently three tables for 5 people spread out. There are the odd pictures that remind you of the Indian sub-continent but the main ones are above the takeaway counter and illustrate the kebab options. Hey, we don’t go for the decor, we want good food!
The waiter was friendly and took our order and checked what level of spicing was wanted for the curries and this was checked by the owner before they cooked it.
There are probably around half the range of dishes of many restaurants, mainly chicken and lamb or vegetarian. There is not a lot of rice to order, but a good range of breads. (And wait for what we have to tell you later!)
On this occasion we have to record Marian and Nitu were unable to attend but Matt and Riki were joined by Erica and Julie, Americans with an experience of Indian food in the USA, here and a wide range of knowledge of spiced foods worldwide.
We ordered for starters extra spicy chicken tandoori and Seekh kebabs. The chicken , well, no hiding this, was the best we have ever tasted! Moist, tender, well-spiced, well-charred and served with a sweet/sour tamarind sauce, smoky with ginger, plenty of heat and a simple yoghurt sauce. Somewhere in ordering there was a breakdown in translation or a simple mistake and the kebab that arrived was wrapped in a durum with salad and a sauce. But, we didn’t send it back because when we unwrapped it the scents that emerged drove us all to dig in. The flavour was incredible, the meat tender and very tasty. Clearly this is a kebab house with a difference!
For mains we ordered Lamb achuri, Chicken Jalfrezi and aloo saag (potato and spinach). This was to be accompanied with a pilao rice, plain naan, cheese and garlic naan and a stuffed paratha.
We had asked for the lamb dish to be extra spicy and were not disappointed. The meat was chunky, tasty and tender, the sauce had the correct level of heat which did not mask the flavours of the spices and especially that slightly bitter finish that you expect in a well-cooked dish.
The chicken Jalfrezi was ‘normal’ i.e. for the Spanish taste but once again it was perfectly balanced, soft tender chicken, pepper and tomato flavour. The aloo saag was a creamy, flavourful spinach sauce with soft potato, again well-balanced flavour. All three dishes were colour free, clearly identifiable and a real pleasure to eat.
The plain naan was very good, fluffy, with a crispy exterior and with that elasticity you want to see. The cheese naan was missing the garlic but apart from that was just as good. The paratha was not stuffed but it was the crispiest, layered, fluffiest paratha we have had…undoubtedly the best anywhere in Valencia, truly authentic.
It is most unusual to write a separate paragraph about the rice! This is to die for! Fried with spices, we identified cumin seed and black cardamom, almost certainly in butter like a pilaf with the tiniest hints of green pepper. A vegetarian would feast on this dish alone!
We ordered a mixed dessert dish of gulab jamun, jalebi, milk cake, carrot halwa and yellow gram flour halwa.
The size of portions was perfect. We were all full without feeling ‘stuffed’, there was nothing to put in a doggy bag! The quality of the food we were served was excellent. Yes there were two or three errors but did we care…no we did not because they did not detract from the overall experience! Would we go back?… Tomorrow!
So, if it’s authentic food you want this is one of the best places in the city. If it’s ambience (decoration etc.) you will be disappointed. It’s a takeaway kebab house with an incredibly well-hidden secret inside!
The overall service was good, errors forgiven, the place was actually full (mainly ethnic South Asian families) with takeaways going out and people on the terrace. The coffee machine wasn’t working but the waiter went to a cafe nearby to get them. That is service.
The overall bill came to 60€ adjusted for the bottle of wine we took it worked out at 17€ per person which makes it amongst the best for quality to price ratio.
And our overall score has to reflect the authenticity and quality of food, but balance it against the ambience and minor errors in an otherwise perfect service.
We score Lahore Tandoori 8.5/10. Up there with the best! Do go and try it, you really won’t be disappointed.