Owing to its location just outside the ancient city walls and thus the city's jurisdiction (London could be accessed via Aldgate, one of the seven ancient gates into the city, the others being Bishopsgate, Moorgate, and some other ones), Whitechapel has historically been a magnet for all kinds of nefarious activities. Whether it be breweries, whorehouses or foundries (two of the world's most famous bells - Big Ben and Philadephia's Liberty Bell - were cast in Whitechapel), if you wanted to get up to no good or murder some prostitutes, Whitechapel was the place to go.
But we weren't there for a history lesson or even to murder some prostitutes, not this time, we were there to sample one of London's most talked-about curry houses, Needo's. The evening began with a few ales at the Good Samaritan, a cosy pub over the road from the Royal London Hospital and as such frequented by doctors and nurses. Unfortunately on this particular evening the nurses were nowhere to be seen but there were plenty of quacks self-medicating at the bar.
From there it was a five minute walk around the corner to Needos. This being a BYO we had stocked up with Kingfisher from Londis, although at £2.79 a bottle we felt slightly ripped off. Not as hectic as Tayyabs, you are nevertheless slightly squeezed in in this place so don't expect much elbow room. The clientele was half Indian half office parties and there was a Bollywood film with the sound turned off playing on the tv screen on one of the walls. The dark red decor is simple and the lighting bright, this place feels more like a cafe than a restaurant.
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| Slightly oily looking naan, overly runny dips |
The poppadoms arrived promptly and were crisp although I have to mark them down slightly on the dips, the raita and mango chutney were a tad runny and there was no lime pickle. A starter of chilli cheese paneer came sizzling on the dish and delighted the tastebuds. Four of us went communist and shared mains, much to the chagrin of the others in our party who went down the George Osborne route and ordered every man for himself. The dry meat curry is highly recommended, leaving a lingering spiciness that lasted well into the third post-curry pint. The Palak Chicken was essentially a chicken curry with spinach and the other two dishes I forget what there were but they were all tasty. Service was efficient and unsmiling.
By the time we left, pushing 10pm, there was a queue of hungry customers eaglery anticipating a plate of sizzling meat snaking out into the cold rainy night. From there it was on to the Urban Bar for a round of holocausts and speculation about whether or not Jesus was a kiddly fiddler, but that's for another time. All in all Needos is a superb curry house, and at ten pounds a head, excellent value for money. This place is definitely on a par with Tayyabs, and only the underwhelming dips stops it getting top marks, but these kind of details are important, as Right Said Fred said, I'm deeply dippy about my dips. 9/10
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| A curry of some sort |
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| Even Gordon is a fan |
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