Enjoying My First Night In London With An Indian Dinner

This past Friday was my first full day in London and I decided that for my first dinner, I wanted to enjoy some Indian cuisine. I don't know about you, but when I think about London, Indian food is one of the first things that I think of. I love Indian food and luckily, it is fairly abundant in London.  

My friend S and I dined at a local Indian restaurant in Islington called "Memsaab." She frequents Memsaab with her family and boyfriend. S was telling me that it's a family run restaurant and that the food is superb. That's all I needed to know to be on board with this decision. The restaurant was about a 5 minute walk from S's flat and it seemed very much like a local haunt -- which I love. Not a fan of super touristy places. 

S and I arrived at the restaurant and were quickly shown to a table. Menus were distributed and the papadums promptly arrived, served with an array of delicious condiments. I don't totally recall what everything was, but the yellow sauce was a mint sauce that I absolutely loved! 

For dinner, there was an infinite number of choices. Everything looked absolutely amazing and I wanted to just order one of everything. (It probably didn't help that I was famished.) Back home, I eat a fair amount of Indian, so I like to think that I have a basic foundational knowledge of Indian cuisine. Boy was I proved wrong. There were so many dishes that I had never heard of and they all looked delicious! It was a tough decision, but after much deliberation, S and I made our selections.

I will eat pretty much anything, so I let S guide me. We thought that sharing a bunch of curries was the best way to go, since it would allow for the most variety. We ordered the chicken bhuna, butter chicken, palak paneer, Peshwari naan, and rice. Quite the feast and everything was stunning!

[L-R]: chicken bhuna, butter chicken, palak paneer, and Peshwari naan

On our way to the restaurant, S asked me if Indian food in London differed from Indian food in New York City, and I didn't know what to say. I never really thought about it. My gut instinct was, "how different could they be?" While I wouldn't say that they are totally different, I definitely noted some differences. For instance: the palak paneer here had more of a tomato-y sauce, whereas I feel like back home, it is more creamy. Also, I'd never heard of Bhuna curry, which  was very delicious. It consisted of a thick tomato-y sauce that packed a bit of heat. 

I'd also never tried Peshwari naan before. I don't know if this is because I'd just never tried it, it's not available in the US, or I'd never seen it on a menu --- but it was amazing. Just like dessert. It looks like regular naan, but when you cut into it, it has a custard like filling bursting with raisins and shredded coconut. I absolutely loved this! I would just order this for dessert all of the time, frankly.

All in all, a really lovely evening. I hadn't seen S in a little over a year, so we had a lot of catching up to do. We polished off a bottle of pinot grigio and feasted on Indian curry. What could be better? I absolutely loved the food at Memsaab. Looking forward to more dinner dates with her!