Restaurant Trip: Maharini on Clapham High Street

 

Like catching up with an old friend for a drink and discovering that it is just like old times.

Before I moved to Balham 4 years ago I spent a happy year living in Clapham North with some close friend, all of whom were big fans of an occasional curry. While there, one of the regular places to get our Bhuna fix was the Maharani (http://www.maharani-clapham.co.uk/), now since the move (slightly) south I haven’t really been back and it was really nice to take my girlfriend there with the promise of a good, traditional English curry and find that I really wasn’t disappointed.

Now I am not saying this is the most up to date place in terms of décor, however if you can look past the fixtures and fittings the service was excellent and attentive and the atmosphere was pleasant enough (although obviously it is a big restaurant on Clapham high street so occasionally on a Friday and Saturday night I imagine you get a football or rugby team in there which may cause a few problems if your plan was for a romantic meal for two).

As well as fast and polite service, the food was excellent. We ordered a couple of specials not on the online menu ( a Rajistani chicken and a lamb dish which I forgot to make a note of) along with a Saag Paneer which according to my foodie girlfriend was one of the best she had ever tasted.I have to say both of the curry dishes were also really tasty and we’re delivered to the table still sizzling. The lamb was tender in a thick gravy, the chicken was also really tasty, neither was excessively hot, but they definitely packed a little  bit of a punch.  The food was also pretty good value for money, nearly all of the mains cost less than a tenner and the assorted sundries came in at about 3 quid each. As is the norm with curry houses 2 dishes and a vegetable side were probably a bit too much for two of us when you add in a portion of rice and a Naan but we really weren’t complaining and ended up finishing the lot.

The wine selection is somewhat limited (I know what you are thinking, who goes to a curry house and orders a bottle of red, the answer would be “my girlfriend”). The 2007 Saint Emilion we eventually settled on was under 20 quid and very nice (although it I hard to talk about wine complementing food when that food is curry) and obviously they also serve the usual array of beer if you prefer to use that to douse the spice fire.

Cost for two of us (including half a bottle of wine and tip) came in at a very reasonable 55 quid and I’d definitely recommend a visit as part of a night out.