The restaurant I ate at the most in London was my local
curry house and luckily it was a phenomenal one. Some prefer Tayyab (and to be
honest the grilled meats aka lamb chops are better there) but Needoo clearly
wins the curry war in my opinion. My usual trifecta of Daighi dry meat curry,
lamb biryani and pumpkin curry used to last me a week of meals and has been the most reminisced of London foods since I left.
The prices have gone up by about 20% in 2.5 years but the quality and serving size remain the same.
- Daighi dry meat curry – still the best curry to my palate. The
soft lamb, the dry spiced heat and the deep salty burning flavours are balanced by
the squeeze of lemon juice;
- King prawn biryani – I usually opt for the lamb biryani (I think the base
rice is the same and cooked with the key ingredient). They found a serve of
king prawns in the freezer (interpret that how you will) and although slightly
overcooked made a nice textural contrast to the deliciously flavoured rice.
Unlike when I get takeaway lamb biryani, this one also came with a serve of chickpea
curry with tomatoes;
- Kahari fish – a nicely flavoured curry with fish that is too overcooked. The
flavour does make up for it though.
In my time I’m yet to find another decent Pakistani biryani and curry that can match Needoo (although on the curry front my recent experience at Hoppers may compete - http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/hoppers-london-06-2016).
Next time I would order a biryani (the king prawns themselves may not be worth the extra £5 charge compared to other versions), dry meat curry and another vegetable curry as per my norm. Having the chickpeas and fish curry reaffirmed that just about any curry at this place will be a safe choice.