Dinner at Est India Restaurant ~ London Bridge

The city of London is food lovers paradise, during the day its a place where you see office workers, commuters and tourists, rushing around carrying on with their daily business. By night it becomes a haven for entertainment, dining and socialising. As the offices close the side streets become alive with workers congregating outside pubs and eateries enjoy a drink or two whilst music lovers dance the night away at the many night clubs.

London bridge is one of those places, where there are many restaurants, pubs, coffee shops and bars nestled in around the side streets. It is lively and bustling with atmosphere. Est India Restaurant is an Indian restaurant not for from London Bridge Station. My friend Heidi and I decided to drop in for a bite to eat one summers evening whilst we were in London.

The restaurant is ideal to drop in for a meal, its decor is simple with wooden tables, no table cloths and cutlery in a pot on the tables cafe style. There is a fully stocked bar and outside seating too. The menu has most of the regular Indian dishes found in any Indian restaurant. We started with a platter of poppadoms and some condiments and chilled salted Lassi (yoghurt drink with cumin and salt), the Lassis can be ordered as mango too.

For starters Heidi and I shared the Paneer Tikki an Indian cheese marinated in spices, stuffed with raisin and a pan seared and some Vegetable Samosas. The samosas were delicious as was the paneer which was flavoured well but it was a little dry.

For the main course Heidi chose the Chicken Tikka Masala and I opted for the Saag Aloo (spinach with potatoes), the manger also recommended Kadai Paneer an additional side dish. We also ordered Pilau Rice and Raita to accompany. There were a selection of breads to order on the menu, but we wanted to keep room for dessert and so did not order any.

Heidi's verdict on the Chicken Tikka was that it was succulent and moist and not too hot so she definitely gave it the thumbs up. The vegetarian option of the Saag Aloo was fairly mild for my taste buds, however the mangers recommendation of the Kadai Paneer was absolutely wonderful. It was beautifully cooked in a lovely rich gravy with peppers and onions. The portion sizes were huge and plentiful.

To finish off our meal we ordered the Mango sorbet and a Pistachio Kulfi. The sorbet was very refreshing, the Kulfi looked like it had been taken out of a wrapper, it was presented on a stick, not how I would have expected a dessert to be served in a restaurant.

My thoughts on the restaurant were that its decor is a little dated and the place is great for a quick bite to eat, so if you want fine dining this is not the place. The initial service after we were seated was a little slow, however once the manager arrived we were given lots of attention and the conversation with him flowed. We learnt a lot about how the paneer is made within the restaurant kitchen and also got to know a little more history of the place. Our overall experience of the restaurant was pleasant and next time I am in London bridge I would probably go and try the lunch menu.

My Score: 10/15
Ambiance 3/5
Service 3.5/5
Food 3.5/5

** I was a guest at Est India restaurant and all the views expressed in this post are of my own as are the pictures. I was not asked to write a positive review.