Picture of Cafe Spice Namaste, E1 8AZ

Historical version 5 of Cafe Spice Namaste, E1 8AZ (view current version)

Restaurant in Whitechapel specialising in Parsi and Goan food, in the 2007 Good Curry Guide.

They also do takeaway and delivery, and you can order online from Just-Eat.

Kake and bob tried the delivery option in January 2009. It worked out quite expensive - £60 for the two of us, plus a £2.50 delivery fee, though we could have knocked a fiver off the total if we'd realised that the main courses automatically come with rice.

We started with the Cafe Spice platter for two (£13); this wasn't bad, and seemed reasonable value. It's worth noting that it doesn't have two pieces of everything, though this does mean there's a greater variety. Kake particularly liked the tandoori salmon.

Moving on to mains, beef curry a la Dada (£15.25 including rice) was all eaten by bob, so he'll have to comment on that. Cornish lamb cutlets Husseini (£16.75 including rice) weren't bad, but suffered from the takeaway process; they'd be better eaten in. Maa di daal (£5) was quite rich, as it should be; though Kake will get bob to order the tadka daal (£4.75) next time. Khara bheeda nay papeto (okra with potato, £5.25) was fine, and Kake would happily order it again. Rice (£2.25/portion, or free with a main course) was fine.

The packaging was annoying; rather than using recloseable and reusable tubs like every other restaurant in London, they use lidless tubs heat-sealed with sheets of thick clear plastic.

Kake's verdict: I'd like to give them another go, though at these prices (and given the annoying packaging) I think I'd rather eat in.

See also:

Food last sampled by Kake and bob, January 2009. Opening hours taken from a sign seen outside, September 2010.
OS X co-ord: 533983 OS Y co-ord: 180935 (Latitude: 51.510953 Longitude: -0.069033)
This is version 5 (as of 2010-09-17 13:27:38). View current version. List all versions.