Bring Back Robbie
Pro Lovely sauce and naan combinations.
Con You're paying for being in the lower end of Chamberi.
Pay
€€€
Per Person €27. Shared; starter, rice, naan and side dish. 1 main. 2 beers. Gratis: Nothing at all.
Find
Website https://www.basmatirestaurante.com/es/
Access One very small step from the street.
In Short
Hopes. Indian spice, as promised by the website.
Reality. Flavours pretty much present and correct.
First Impressions. It's smart.
USP? We loved the Coconut naan.
The offer in three words. Needs more love.
Service! One server. A bit slow at the start and the end.
Friend friendly? As you'd expect.
Rating for dating. Decor certainly suitable.
Tip? No.
Change one thing? Details. Add some!
Revisitability. Not as high as we'd like.
Compare & Contrast
Barrio Indian Restaurants: Atocha
In Pictures
On Google Images
What's the story?
Decent dishes but no extant extras pulls Basmati down from the score its menu food should probably get.
Continuing our tour of barrio-based Indians that started in Atocha, this time we're in the lowest reaches of Chamberi amid the expanding eating scene around C/Sandoval. Years ago there was a bar that served its cañas in the coffee mugs you'd find in a kitchen cupboard at your granny's. I miss that bar. Ah well. The one thing that doesn't change is that everything changes. I'd offer up a song at this point, but it'd mean acknowledging a deeper awareness of Take That than is healthy for hepcat bloggers-about-town. So, Basmati - could it be magic, pray? Would this be a lunch we'd never forget?
Arriving on a Saturday lunchtime, we did a double take. The decor's impressively simple and smart. Attractive photography and some solid modern metal furniture, this looks more like a modern Thai than a traditional Indian. It's a laminated, printed menu which looks professional but feels impersonal.
Starter? Among the bhajis and samosas, we aimed for Chicken pakura. A fair-serving of deep fried goujons came with two decent spicy sauces. We liked the minty chilly one a lot. There's nothing too exciting to say here, though. We had some properly cooked chicken strips with a bit of sauce. Was there anything special in the chickpea flour coating? Not that we noticed. Was the salad garnish dressed at all? Nope. Nothing to complain about, but not a whole lotta love being offered on this one, aside from a squiggle that might mean something. Or not. We're really not sure.
Madras Chicken, which should probably be called Chennai Chicken these days, not least as it alliterates promisingly, was our first curry choice. Checking on how hot it was going to be, we were promised something with oomph. Acidic, a bit smoky but, simply not as hot as it would be in Lavapies or elsewhere, it was tasty and fresh. Garlic and Chilli lamb. Another very rewarding sauce and decent chunks of lean lamb made this a success, in fact perhaps a more rounded dish than the Madras. In spice terms, this one's more likely to relight your fire.
Coconut naan. An excellent dish, this was easily the highlight of this visit. Sweet naan plus spicy curry sauces makes for a delicious moreish combination. Perhaps it was a little smaller than we'd like but it's first class. Saag aloo was gently spiced rather than fiery, we've no complaint about it as a solid accompaniment with good balance of greens and spuds.
There was just the one server on hand for most of our visit. Bill need a little patience as delivery took a bit longer than it might, but beers - Cobra in this case - only took a minute and arrived very well chilled.
So it's a shame that some excellent food isn't given a chance to shine by some details or a sense of generosity. No kick-off poppadums, not even as an option on the menu. Sauces and chutneys weren't on offer. Even the pair of decent accompaniments to our tasty starter disappeared before we could ask to hang on to them for the mains. Chupitos are now common in Lavapies, and were missing here.
For the price, even in this more expensive neighbourhood, a few of those details dealt with might well have us planning repeat business. Little extras here and there create the sense of an event and something special. Instead, the food here isn't celebrated for how well prepared it is. Sadly this feels more like an exercise in successful feeding than celebrated dining. A shame.
And we can't ignore the fact the same price would include some frills and fripperies elsewhere, so we'll be on the lookout for somewhere new for our next barrio-based Indian.
Pro Lovely sauce and naan combinations.
Con You're paying for being in the lower end of Chamberi.
Pay
€€€
Per Person €27. Shared; starter, rice, naan and side dish. 1 main. 2 beers. Gratis: Nothing at all.
Find
Website https://www.basmatirestaurante.com/es/
Access One very small step from the street.
In Short
Hopes. Indian spice, as promised by the website.
Reality. Flavours pretty much present and correct.
First Impressions. It's smart.
USP? We loved the Coconut naan.
The offer in three words. Needs more love.
Service! One server. A bit slow at the start and the end.
Friend friendly? As you'd expect.
Rating for dating. Decor certainly suitable.
Tip? No.
Change one thing? Details. Add some!
Revisitability. Not as high as we'd like.
Compare & Contrast
Barrio Indian Restaurants: Atocha
In Pictures
On Google Images
What's the story?
Decent dishes but no extant extras pulls Basmati down from the score its menu food should probably get.
Continuing our tour of barrio-based Indians that started in Atocha, this time we're in the lowest reaches of Chamberi amid the expanding eating scene around C/Sandoval. Years ago there was a bar that served its cañas in the coffee mugs you'd find in a kitchen cupboard at your granny's. I miss that bar. Ah well. The one thing that doesn't change is that everything changes. I'd offer up a song at this point, but it'd mean acknowledging a deeper awareness of Take That than is healthy for hepcat bloggers-about-town. So, Basmati - could it be magic, pray? Would this be a lunch we'd never forget?
Arriving on a Saturday lunchtime, we did a double take. The decor's impressively simple and smart. Attractive photography and some solid modern metal furniture, this looks more like a modern Thai than a traditional Indian. It's a laminated, printed menu which looks professional but feels impersonal.
Starter? Among the bhajis and samosas, we aimed for Chicken pakura. A fair-serving of deep fried goujons came with two decent spicy sauces. We liked the minty chilly one a lot. There's nothing too exciting to say here, though. We had some properly cooked chicken strips with a bit of sauce. Was there anything special in the chickpea flour coating? Not that we noticed. Was the salad garnish dressed at all? Nope. Nothing to complain about, but not a whole lotta love being offered on this one, aside from a squiggle that might mean something. Or not. We're really not sure.
Madras Chicken, which should probably be called Chennai Chicken these days, not least as it alliterates promisingly, was our first curry choice. Checking on how hot it was going to be, we were promised something with oomph. Acidic, a bit smoky but, simply not as hot as it would be in Lavapies or elsewhere, it was tasty and fresh. Garlic and Chilli lamb. Another very rewarding sauce and decent chunks of lean lamb made this a success, in fact perhaps a more rounded dish than the Madras. In spice terms, this one's more likely to relight your fire.
Coconut naan. An excellent dish, this was easily the highlight of this visit. Sweet naan plus spicy curry sauces makes for a delicious moreish combination. Perhaps it was a little smaller than we'd like but it's first class. Saag aloo was gently spiced rather than fiery, we've no complaint about it as a solid accompaniment with good balance of greens and spuds.
There was just the one server on hand for most of our visit. Bill need a little patience as delivery took a bit longer than it might, but beers - Cobra in this case - only took a minute and arrived very well chilled.
So it's a shame that some excellent food isn't given a chance to shine by some details or a sense of generosity. No kick-off poppadums, not even as an option on the menu. Sauces and chutneys weren't on offer. Even the pair of decent accompaniments to our tasty starter disappeared before we could ask to hang on to them for the mains. Chupitos are now common in Lavapies, and were missing here.
For the price, even in this more expensive neighbourhood, a few of those details dealt with might well have us planning repeat business. Little extras here and there create the sense of an event and something special. Instead, the food here isn't celebrated for how well prepared it is. Sadly this feels more like an exercise in successful feeding than celebrated dining. A shame.
And we can't ignore the fact the same price would include some frills and fripperies elsewhere, so we'll be on the lookout for somewhere new for our next barrio-based Indian.