Historical version 3 of Ivory Arch, SE1 6SW (view current version)
- 020 7708 5555
- 80-82 Walworth Road, SE1 6SW (streetmap) (osm) (gmap) (bingmap) (streetview)
- ivoryarch.co.uk
Restaurant and nightclub on Walworth Road, near the Elephant and Castle roundabouts. They've been in operation since 1986, and the interweb says they were the first ever curry delivery service in the UK. They do takeaway and delivery, and you can order online from Hungry House. The takeaway part seems to have a separate entrance from the main entrance pictured here; see photo on the LondonSE1 site.
Kake and bob tried the takeaway service on a Saturday night in March 2009, ordering via Hungry House. The food arrived in just over an hour.
Meat samosas (£2 for two) had well-flavoured filling and decent pastry but had clearly been fried in not-hot-enough oil, as they were very greasy. Tandoori chicken (£3 for a starter portion) was salty and a little dry.
Rani makhani (aubergines and selected vegetables cooked in a makhani sauce, £5.50) was bright red, sweet, coconutty, not overly endowed with aubergine, and not particularly interesting. Kake wouldn't order this again. Kas kolla (green banana cooked with onion, pepper, mixed spices, and fenugreek, £4.50) was a little better, if only because the green banana was an actual feature of the dish, though the spicing was still fairly indistinct. Saag bhaji (£2.50 for a side dish portion) was fine.
Fans of spicy food may be interested to learn about the wrath of khan (£5.85) - described on the menu as "lamb cooked with onions and ghee in an extremely hot sauce with very hot chillies - a very extremely hot dish", this was actually hot enough for bob to get an endorphin rush.
See also:
- LondonSE1 forum thread
- View London comments
- BView comments
- Tipped comments
- Trusted Places comments
- London Eating comments
- Kake's photos of the takeaway menu as of March 2009: page 1, page 2.
Comment added by Ed: I think Kake & Bob are a little unkind, I have eaten from the Ivory Arch many times. There has been time when the food has been late but they have always given us a free side dish to compensate. The food is better than average, its a plus in my book.