South by Southeast
Pro Solid Indian flavours.
Con Not a budget option.
Pay €€€
Per Person €27-€30. Shared stater, two mains, three sides. Two Cobras. Gratis: Popodoms, sauces, chupito.
Find
Website https://www.atochatandoori.es/es/
Access Step free entry.
In Short
Hopes. Recommendations we've been given would be met.
Reality. Some first rate fresh-tasting dishes.
First Impressions. Space. Incense. And colourful walls.
USP? An Indian flag of sauces and chutney.
The offer in three words. Quality, well-cooked familiar favourites.
Service! Very efficient, with spiciness warnings, not that we needed them.
Friend friendly? By it's nature this is a very varied menu. Something for pretty much everyone.
Rating for dating. They were ongoing around us. Lots of space for private chatting.
Tip? 5%
Change one thing? Kulfi on the dessert menu would be nice.
Revisitability. It's a very solid choice, so quite likely.
Compare & Contrast
Moharaj at Ave Maria 18 offers a quality range of dishes at good prices.
In Pictures
On Google Images
What's the story?
It's a proper quality offer at Atocha Tandoori.
We're after new Indian experiences. We're looking to get away from the usual south-central suspects. Not that they're not good, but something new can surprise. And we're hoping for value and quality cooking.
AT scores well on some of those counts. For a start, it's not so long ago Madrid had two Indian restaurants. A posh one and a cheaper one. The thought of neighbourhood Indians was unimaginable, but now they're all over the shop. So tonight, we're a 10 minute stroll southeast from Lavapies.
For a second, the quality is well up to snuff. We went for a fair old range of classic options and we're pleased with the lot of them. After some pleasingly gratis poppadums - that's not so common the other side of Ronda de Atocha, we kicked off with paneer rolls. This brought us two cheesy tubes and a nest of salady bits that had actually been dressed a bit and added something. The rolls were really good. Fresh, crunchy, but without the classic squeek, which we missed a bit. Three sauces arranged in a pleasing patriotic flag layout - mango chutney is orangier than it appears really added to this - and the mains and were refreshed without our needing to say anything. Nice.
We put together an entirely conventional set of mains. Chana Masala is the best one I've had in Madrid with fresher-tasting spicing than any other I've had. A bit of kick to it, too.
Unofficial rule: when you can hear and see food across the room, you're going to enjoy it. So, imagine the excitement at the sight of a sizzling skillet of lamb shaslic laying down a smoke trail like it should be chasing Cary Grant across a field. This was nicely spicy with extra citrus lightening things. It's a generous serving, with quality meat throughout. I'd like a slight upping of the meat:veg ratio - it feels like about 35:65, and I'd appreciate a shade more in an ideal world. Adding splodges from the saucy tricolour - the bright green one's an excellent chilli & mint combination - zhuzhed it up suitably and makes this probably the best lamb shaslic I've had in Madrid.
Our classic curry choice was Chicken Rezala, which was the only mildly disappointing dish of the evening. Literally. This was just too mild, so a touch disappointing. We should have probably discussed spicing it up and we have no complaints at all about the quality of the cooking, the quality of the chicken or the portion size. With so many spot-on elements it's was a shame it lacked power in the finish.
A plain naan was excellently hot and fresh and consequently we made it disappear with the last of the sauces. Plain basmati defies reviewing. Beers came in seconds when we asked for more, a chupito/shot was on offer too, although we do think a bit of effort in the dessert department wouldn't go amiss. Perhaps its a consequence of Spain's lack of sweet toothedness. Service was excellently efficient.
Atocha Tandoori's a good choice, then. It's not the cheapest, by the prices on the menu and you're not going to get too many surprises, but you're not going to be disappointed. At about €25 per person, it's a well-priced deal.
Pro Solid Indian flavours.
Con Not a budget option.
Pay €€€
Per Person €27-€30. Shared stater, two mains, three sides. Two Cobras. Gratis: Popodoms, sauces, chupito.
Find
Website https://www.atochatandoori.es/es/
Access Step free entry.
In Short
Hopes. Recommendations we've been given would be met.
Reality. Some first rate fresh-tasting dishes.
First Impressions. Space. Incense. And colourful walls.
USP? An Indian flag of sauces and chutney.
The offer in three words. Quality, well-cooked familiar favourites.
Service! Very efficient, with spiciness warnings, not that we needed them.
Friend friendly? By it's nature this is a very varied menu. Something for pretty much everyone.
Rating for dating. They were ongoing around us. Lots of space for private chatting.
Tip? 5%
Change one thing? Kulfi on the dessert menu would be nice.
Revisitability. It's a very solid choice, so quite likely.
Compare & Contrast
Moharaj at Ave Maria 18 offers a quality range of dishes at good prices.
In Pictures
On Google Images
What's the story?
It's a proper quality offer at Atocha Tandoori.
We're after new Indian experiences. We're looking to get away from the usual south-central suspects. Not that they're not good, but something new can surprise. And we're hoping for value and quality cooking.
AT scores well on some of those counts. For a start, it's not so long ago Madrid had two Indian restaurants. A posh one and a cheaper one. The thought of neighbourhood Indians was unimaginable, but now they're all over the shop. So tonight, we're a 10 minute stroll southeast from Lavapies.
For a second, the quality is well up to snuff. We went for a fair old range of classic options and we're pleased with the lot of them. After some pleasingly gratis poppadums - that's not so common the other side of Ronda de Atocha, we kicked off with paneer rolls. This brought us two cheesy tubes and a nest of salady bits that had actually been dressed a bit and added something. The rolls were really good. Fresh, crunchy, but without the classic squeek, which we missed a bit. Three sauces arranged in a pleasing patriotic flag layout - mango chutney is orangier than it appears really added to this - and the mains and were refreshed without our needing to say anything. Nice.
 |
| Lamb to the left, Chicken Rezala at the back. |
A plain naan was excellently hot and fresh and consequently we made it disappear with the last of the sauces. Plain basmati defies reviewing. Beers came in seconds when we asked for more, a chupito/shot was on offer too, although we do think a bit of effort in the dessert department wouldn't go amiss. Perhaps its a consequence of Spain's lack of sweet toothedness. Service was excellently efficient.
Atocha Tandoori's a good choice, then. It's not the cheapest, by the prices on the menu and you're not going to get too many surprises, but you're not going to be disappointed. At about €25 per person, it's a well-priced deal.
 |
| For good Indian food, everyone's heading for Atocha Tandoori... |