Picture of Karahi King, HA0 3NG

Karahi King, HA0 3NG

Cafe-style Indian restaurant in North Wembley.

Although it's a double-width shopfront, only half of it appears to be in use, seating around 50 people at melamine-topped tables. The decor is generally quite basic, and the ambience is casual — there are menus on the tables, but you place your order directly with the chef at the counter, and pay at the till after you've eaten. They don't seem to be licensed to serve alcohol, but do let you bring your own; on our visit, another party was enjoying a bottle of wine.

All the food is cooked at an open kitchen in one corner, including grilled kebabs and lamb chops. A huge pan of sauce simmers on the stove, next to large woks in which the curries are cooked to order. Spices are piled in small bowls above this, for the chef to adjust flavours and heat; the curries can be prepared mild, medium, or hot.

Kake visited on a Friday lunchtime in October 2015. There was one other party eating in when I arrived around 12:15pm, and others came and went for takeaways. No music was playing, but there was a strange background hum, possibly from the refrigerator unit.

I was in the mood for chicken, but none of their chicken comes on the bone and I didn't want to risk it being dry, so I went for a vegetarian option instead. Karahi methi channa paneer (£5.90) photo had a good balance of chickpeas to paneer, and the methi flavour came through well. The chickpeas were properly softened, and the paneer cut to a sensible size to blend in properly. Overall, it wasn't too salty, oily, or heavy, and my only criticism would be the several inedibly woody bits of methi. Plain rice (£2.50) was fine, if a touch salty. A salad of cucumber, raw onion, and red cabbage was provided on the side at no cost, and gave a good, crunchy contrast to the curry.

Kake's verdict: I'd come back if I was in the area.

Accessibility: A step to get in. No further steps to the toilets, but access is quite narrow.

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Last visited by Kake, October 2015. Opening hours taken from Facebook page, October 2015.
OS X co-ord: 517522 OS Y co-ord: 186203 (Latitude: 51.562472 Longitude: -0.305957)
Last edited 2023-09-05 12:41:08 (version 3; diff). List all versions.