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You are here: Home / Restaurants / Namaaste Kitchen Camden

Namaaste Kitchen Camden

March 5, 2011 by Sarah Trivuncic 11 Comments

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Dinner With Crayons is my semi regular weekend series of child friendly restaurant reviews.

Spicy food pushes the boundaries of most toddlers. We’ve done pizza places, burgers, roast dinners. Even sushi. Ted loves strong flavours and has tucked into some Mexican dishes such chicken mole at Wahaca with gusto however Namaaste Kitchen in Camden was his first time eating Indian food.

They serve a weekday express lunch menu for hurried office workers. Although we were going on Saturday, if speedy efficient service was on order, it should also be good for impatient little people.

Someone was holding a “golf sale” style sign pointing to the restaurant outside Camden tube, not normally an indication of smart restaurants. Situated on Camden Parkway, Namaaste Kitchen is away from the main drag of weekend market tourists and shoppers, unless you’re on your way to London Zoo. It was quiet when we arrived at 12.30 and didn’t get much busier.

Although not great for business, to a young family near emptiness is an advantage.

In the main restaurant area on lounge bar style cream leather seating we’ve a good view of the chef grilling traditional and modern Indian and Pakistani dishes. Towering flames proved exciting entertainment for a 3 year old. Appetisers were fairly usual; chutneys and pappadoms (which Ted thought were huge crisps).

From the substantial list of cocktails, wines and spirits we opted for two alcohol free cocktails; “Very Berry Mojito” made from blackberry, raspberry, lychee, mint and ginger beer and “Paradise Passion” featuring passion fruit, mango and lemonade (both £4.50). Both were colourful and refreshing. Alcoholic cocktails were priced from £6.50. Ted had plain juice with a straw.

Starters. Tandoori Portobello Mushroom (£4.75), a creative vegetarian dish presented in quarters on a long serving platter. Large mushroom pieces topped with fig, cashew and raisin, chilli, home made cheese and a curry leaf dressing. An excellent start to the meal and I’m feeling quite hungry writing about it again.

Jungle Style Chargrill Lamb Kebab (£4.50) came with a red onion salad and fresh mint sauce. It was gently spicy but quite chewy and no good for fussy little teeth.

The proprietor urged us to try soft shell crab with thick spicy fig and prune chutney (£5.95). I’m glad he did. Similar dishes have often been too much soft shell and zero crab, hence my reluctance to order but the semolina batter pieces were generously filled with succulent meat marinated in green peppercorn and lemon sauce.

Ted’s starter portion of Murgh Tikka (£4.50) is marinated in Philadelphia and homemade yogurt with green chutney. He mostly ignored the salad but enjoyed the juicy chunks of chicken and our naan bread.

Mains. Gurda Keema Taka Tak (£11.95), a chopped lamb and kidney bhuna with yogurt and lachcha paratha bread had been praised by Londonist and I felt compelled to try it. It’s a Pakistani roadside cafeteria dish that knocks the socks off anything at Scratchwood Services. Well spiced with similar heat to strong dhansak, the bite size lamb and kidney pieces were a fine texture without being minced. I liked this. Possibly the best curry dish I’ve had in years.

A large breast of Tandoori Rubiyan Duck (£14.95) kept my husband quiet. Strong presentation, tender meat topped with a giant grilled prawn.

Side dishes. We couldn’t finish everything; generous portions of pilau rice topped with crispy fried onions, Indian style katchumber with half moons of cucumber and aloo gobi free of ghee oiliness (the latter we’d discussed with the waiter and not meant to order but it came anyway).

We’d been here quite a while now and Ted was twitchy. He had his dessert of chocolate mousse cake with ice cream whilst we ate mains. I enjoyed Tandoori Pineapple with Coconut Sorbet (£4.50).

The bathroom facilities were less polished than the restaurant interior and quite cramped. Nowhere to change babies but fine otherwise. (I forgot to ask about high chairs).

Verdict: I estimate this meal would cost around £70-80, which sounds a lot for two plus a half for a weekend lunch without alcohol but the meat dishes (apart from lamb starter) were all excellent. The Express Lunch, available weekdays at £8.99 for 2 courses or £11.99 for 3 (notably featuring Taka Tak) and is better value. Apparently the Express Lunch comes free if not served within an hour… an odd concept surely? Something is amiss if it takes longer than 30-40 minutes.

The modern interior looks smart but still a narrow unit in Camden, home of chain restaurants and market snacks rather than stylish and contemporary venues. I wish Namaaste Kitchen well and would recommend the food but I would go to a smarter part of town unless there for the lunch deal.

We were guests of Namaaste Kitchen, 64 Parkway, London, NW1 7AH.

This site content is free. When you purchase via referral links on our posts, including those to Amazon, we earn affiliate commission, at no extra cost to yourself. Thanks for reading and please share posts you find useful!
Filed Under: Restaurants

About Sarah Trivuncic

Sarah Trivuncic has published recipes, restaurant and travel reviews on Maison Cupcake since 2009. She lives in Walthamstow, East London with her husband and teenager.
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Comments

  1. Gourmet Chicks says

    March 5, 2011 at 2:52 pm

    The best curry you have had in years is high praise indeed! Good to hear the place was child friendly but I do hate eating in restaurants without fellow diners as it just seems so awkward.

    Reply
    • Sarah, Maison Cupcake says

      March 5, 2011 at 3:17 pm

      Thanks… yes being quiet does sap the atmosphere. Presumably it’s much busier in there at night.

      Reply
  2. PippaD @ A Mothers Ramblings says

    March 5, 2011 at 3:58 pm

    Gosh the food looks lovely, making me quite hungry! I am off to London Zoo soon so might pop in1

    Reply
  3. Auntie Angie says

    March 5, 2011 at 4:03 pm

    Hey, you should have given me a ring – I would have joined you!

    Reply
  4. Heavenly Housewife says

    March 5, 2011 at 5:54 pm

    I read a review on this place, did you have the special naans by any chance? I heard they do a ginger and date naan which is quite spectacular.
    Hope you are having a great weekend.
    *kisses* HH

    Reply
  5. Rose Dunkley says

    March 6, 2011 at 6:05 pm

    looks lovely. Might return to Camden with Teddy in the 4 days we are having him in April.

    Reply
  6. Helen T says

    March 6, 2011 at 9:05 pm

    I love that he looks so excited by the food, which in turn looks really interesting. I think that’s one of the secrets of getting kids really into food and wanting to try new things. Lets face it, works for the rest of us for the rest of our lives, so why shouldn’t it be the same for kids? Sadly most “kids meals” fall woefully short on the interesting scale.

    Reply
  7. Pudding Pie Lane says

    March 6, 2011 at 10:16 pm

    The duck looks really yummy, and the restaurant is pretty too! Seems quite pricey to me but maybe that’s just because I’m a student and living outside London 😛

    Reply
  8. Jacq says

    March 8, 2011 at 4:12 pm

    Wow. This looks fabulous. I wonder if they could cope with 4 kids in there. This is a really useful feature (can you tell I watch too much Thomas?)

    Reply
  9. May says

    March 11, 2011 at 1:02 am

    Ah, this is where you had the kidney bhuna. Sounds delish. Must go and try it soon.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Namaaste Kitchen - Modern Indian Grill & Bar in Camden, North London » Coffee and Vanilla says:
    April 24, 2014 at 4:21 pm

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