Randomness Guide to London Menu

An excellent and good value restaurant serving Pakistani food in Whitechapel. It is also occasionally referred to as "New Tayyabs" and over the years has expanded from its original premises to take in an adjoining building, once a pub.

Like many of the curry houses in this vicinity (and popular opinion tends to focus on the Bangladeshi places on nearby Brick Lane), Tayyabs is very popular and almost always very busy. A Saturday lunchtime in December wasn't too crowded, but of an evening, queues can often be seen snaking around the whole restaurant. Unlike the Brick Lane curry houses, Tayyabs inspires a degree of cultish fandom and as such is a London institution, serving good quality, freshly-prepared curries quickly and cheaply for large groups of hungry people.

Ewan's recent visit was with a group of 15 including a baby, and they had no problem accommodating us during the day. Right away, plates of salad were placed down and drinks orders taken -- several jugs of mango lassi, and tap water, all arrived soon after, accompanied by perfect, crunchy poppadoms.

When food orders were taken the friendly and personable waiter suggested just bringing a selection of mixed grill meat as starter, with some fish for those wanting that, and a paneer dish for myself (the lone vegetarian). This all arrived sizzling and hot straight from the oven, and was generally appraised as being of very good quality. Our curry mains arrived after, preceded by piles of mixed naan breads, not at all stodgy, and beautifully cooked. Curries were not too oily and most came in hot metal bowls to keep them warm.

There is no alcohol available from the restaurant, but they let you bring your own. The restaurant closes during the month of Ramadan, when they only offer a takeaway service. There is also a counter selling all kinds of sweets and kulfi.

Verdict: Ewan has visited several times, and never had a bad experience, though the crowds mean that tables get rather packed in and the place can seem frenetic when busy.

See also:

• London Eating comments
• Guardian review