Tonight:
9°c
NEW: Some fares could fall by more than a third when Oyster is extended to every national rail station in London, it has emerged
More...
New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
Restaurants
Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave
Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws
Alex has a strong powerful voice and was faultless, she is far better now than she was on the X-Factor
London,
Fay Maschler's rating
Reader rating
Phone: 020 7727 1947
Open: Mon-Fri: noon-3pm and 6pm-midnight; Sat-Sun: noon-midnight
Payment options: The major cards
Durbar's head chef, Shamin Syed. The 50-year-old establishment calls itself
The Syed brothers opened Durbar in 1956 when there were fewer than 20 Indian restaurants in London and Winston Churchill had just resigned as prime minister in favour of Anthony Eden.
Fifty years on, there are about 8,500 Indian restaurants in the UK, more people are employed in the preparation and serving of Indian food than in the shipbuilding, coal mining and steel industries put together and someone who should be resigning is dragging his feet.
Durbar, like most Indian restaurants these days, is award-winning. Among their various titles, they got Rogan Josh of the Year in 2003 and were pronounced Asian Snacks 2002 Winner by The Authentic Food Market. Quite rightly, they are celebrating the golden anniversary of what they call The Oldest Family-run Indian Restaurant in London.
One manifestation is a gift to customers in September and October of a customised bag of spices and an "easy" Durbar recipe to cook at home.
I couldn't wait until then to try out this slice (or samosa) of history, so I went along last week. A truly interesting fact is that founder Syed Abdul Quddus produced seven children, five of whom are currently involved in running the restaurant.
This sibling team may well explain the curious lack of interest staff displayed towards the customers. It was hard to catch a waiter's eye and the only spark of vivacity came when two chaps joked with each other as they put down our selection of dishes.
Maybe they were amused by our choice of Lorient (could L'Orient have been meant?) Special Chicken, an award-winning dish whose allure owed quite a lot to sugar. Prawn puree, a British invention, and a spicy mixed vegetable biryani were rather better. As well as Hyderabadi dishes, there are Parsi dhansaks, a vegetarian thali, Goan xacuti and Bay of Bengal specialities.
A whole continent emerges from one Bangladeshi kitchen in Bayswater. But 50 years ago it was probably curry and chips. There is no flock on the walls of the tunnel-like dining room; it has migrated onto the chairs and banquettes.
Marco Pierre White has given Durbar a published endorsement: "Excellent value, fine food. Top restaurant. Perfect." Sienna and Jude apparently had a good time, too.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
[ 1 ] [ 2 ]
