Indali Lounge [Baker St., London]

[MMRuth]

I'm wondering if anyone has tried this (newish?) "healthy" Indian in Baker Street. I'm visiting for a week and a friend had mentioned it to me. Other than searching for reports on this place (none), I've not done any general research for my trip yet, though we do want to take our friend (P.) to a nice Indian restaurant that offers well-thought of options for the vegetarian and the non-vegetarians.

[Ibrahim.Salha]

I've seen this restaurant advertised on the back of a lot of buses going over Waterloo Bridge. Take from that, what you will.

[TLC_Tim]

I too have been concerned by the advertisements on the backs of buses.

FWIW, I had lunch with an Indian acquantance who knows that I am interested in finding Indian food that is worth eating. He had recently eaten at Indali and said it was worth trying.

[DollyDagger]

It's not new - it was just so bad when it opened that no one wrote up their experiences. They invited a lot of food press - very few reviews ever surfaced. Maybe it has improved but I would never return after an appalling experience there.

On a happier note, greedygirl's recommendation for Indian Zing is spot on. Not the easiest location (i.e. not central) but the food is excellent.

If you had another location in mind, let us know and I'm sure the London chowhounds can give more area-specific recommendations.

[MMRuth]

Thanks all - I'm going to try to put in some time on the board today and getting my schedule arranged, and will post back with some tentative ideas for "vetting"!

[greedygirl]

I don't know anything about Indali Lounge but you should maybe try Indian Zing in Hammersmith - their veg thali is very good. Howler is a fan!

[chief1284]

I walked past it the other day and it looked promising. Still, it's hard to avoid Royal China or Galvin Bistrot De Luxe if I'm round those parts.

I'd be interested if it got an especially good recommendation though.

[limster]

Have to admit I'm not the biggest fan of Galvin Bistrot De Luxe (or La Chapelle), but have only been to each once where my experiences were good not great.

[chief1284]

I have only been to Bistrot De Luxe once, but my experience was completely the opposite (hence my above recommendation). Maybe I went on a good day and got lucky with my ordering, or maybe you went on an off-day. All I can say is my experience was good enough for me to promise myself a return visit. I had a very good terrine with a quince compote, very nice. A really outstanding Cassoulet, and a buttermilk pannacotta with rhubarb. All were 8 or 9 out of ten dishes, and at £15.50 for 3 courses, was outstanding value.

I'm praying you've just experienced an unlucky day, because I was really hoping I'd come across my new budget high dining lunch place. A return visit will see...

[limster]

What made me lose a bit of my faith was that some of the flaws I encountered at the Bistrot were repeated at La Chapelle (e.g. texture of the souffle). But there's always a matter of luck, and restaurants can be really variable, between days and between dishes.

[chief1284]

Didn't have a souffle. But yes you are right about variables, and also with the criticisms. Some chefs do repeat mistakes again and again. If they've made souffles one way and gotten away with it, they might keep doing it forever. I'm not au fait enough with the structure of the Galvin restaurants to know what influence the brothers have in each one, but there might be stock recipes for something like a souffle.

As it happens I'll be going to Windows in a couple of weeks for another lunch deal, so maybe I can get a more complete picture. (not sure to avoid souffles or find out if your problems are repeated again!)