I should first say that I have eaten at a lot of London's more well regarded curry establishments, including Tayyabs, Mirch Masala and any number of the random places you find all the way down Brick Lane and popping up all over the city.
What I have found is that although quite a lot of finding a good curry house is a lucky dip, once you have got lucky you should be able to get a decent meal for around 20 quid (without cobra), although having said that I have had a very decent meal for less than that on many happy occasions
Sadly Benares, on Berkley Square did not fall into the category for great value, the deal they offered as part of London restaurant week was 3 courses for 25 pounds, which sounded reasonable enough for a michelin starred place but rather than do a selection from their tasting menu (which is the approach taken by many restaurants who take part) they used the event to promote their new(ish) Thali menu.
Now personally I think this was quite a large mistake, mainly because, to keep costs down, the menu they chose was almost identical to one you could find in most curry houses all over London, but while you were eating you were sat next to people eating a selection of amazing looking dishes from the real menu, putting into stark relief the very normal fayre we were presented with. Food envy is bad enough when it is your partners meal (because if you are lucky/quick you can get to try some) however when it is a neighbouring table you quickly feel like a poor relation. The thali platters were well laid out with a good selection of dishes, but to be honest both of the main curries (chicken thighs and sea bass) were pretty dull.
We also opted for the accompanying wines to see if the restaurant sommellier was up to standard, sadly for him he let himself down badly with one of my wines, a pinot noir, which was badly corked, completely opaque and dull. Even in the dim lights provided by the restaurant I could tell something was wrong when he set it down on the table. A quick sniff and sip confirmed it was as bad as I expected.
Having summoned the waiter the mistake was quickly rectified but to be honest it should never have been made in the first place, and even a complimentary glass of champagne with dessert couldn't really shake the feeling of disappointment. I think had it not been for the wine I would have been tempted to go back to try the main menu at some point but it put the tin hat on a really down experience for me.
Talking of dessert this was the best part of the meal, with a cooked yoghurt and fruit dessert which I would recommend to anyone, although I would have to say it didn't make the costs worth while.
To make up for this disappointment and also to satisfy my need for a proper curry I decided to go to one of my favourite curry houses in London this weekend, Gurkha's Diner in Balham. Technically this is Nepalese (rather than Indian) which usually means no coconut and also less ghee and cream, with more tomato and vegetable based curries.
The best starter (pictured left) are the Momo Cha (spicy pork dumplings) which are so good I have tried to recreate them myself, with some success, although the Choyola lamb is also highly recommended.
The mains are less pretty to look at (arriving in standard serving bowls) but they are also incredibly tasty. The fact that the whole meal (including drinks and service) was 22 pounds each for me and my partner was also impressive. The best bit is that they also do take-away with free delivery giving even the laziest Balham resident no excuse for not giving it a go!
