Picture of Imli Street, W1F 8WR

Historical version 1 of Imli Street, W1F 8WR (view current version)

  • 020 7287 4243
  • 167-169 Wardour Street, Soho, W1F 8WR (streetmap) (osm) (gmap) (bingmap) (streetview)
  • 12-11pm Mon/Tue; 12-11.30pm Wed-Sat; 12-10pm Sun

Indian 'tapas'-themed restaurant, which specialises in offering its food in small dishes, not unlike a thali. Somewhat following this theme, Imli even has a tasting menu at £16.50 or £22.50 per person. At lunchtimes, there is a special £7.50 menu. (Menus are available on the website.)

On our visit, all of our party opted for the lunchtime set menu. All meals included small bowls of papdi chaat (a very tasty combination of 'wholewheat crisps', bean sprouts and sweet yoghurt), dal curry, a curry featuring 'vegetable of the day', and fresh-cut salad. The fifth bowl was either a meat curry or (for those choosing the vegetarian option) a paneer dish. The meal was served with rice and a small dish of chutney.

I found the dal to be the best of the dishes, with the 'vegetable of the day' curry spicy but slightly disappointing. Kat was happy with her chicken dish (which was brought out in error, as she had ordered lamb, but was offered free of charge while the chef readied the lamb curry), while I found the paneer to be excellent. In addition, I tried the fresh lime juice (available either sweet or salty), which was refreshing although with an odd taste incorporating both salt and sugar.

Service was attentive without being overbearing and the food was brought out promptly.

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Last visited by Kake, Ewan, Kat and Leon, 21 February 2008. Opening hours taken from website.
OS X co-ord: 529502 OS Y co-ord: 181176 (Latitude: 51.514164 Longitude: -0.133488)
This is version 1 (as of 2008-02-21 15:33:26). View current version.