Memsaheb on Thames restaurant review

September 3, 2014
Food     Restaurants
Crab puri, paratha and mixed grill starters at Memsaheb-on-Thames

The seating area inside Memsaheb-on-Thames

 

I’ve recently purchased a Tastecard, which offers 50% a food bill, or buy one get one free at thousands of restaurants in the UK.
Since hubby and I are real foodies, and spend most of our social time around a plate of something, it made sense to get some discounts along the way.
So anyway, with a view to explore places we haven’t eaten at before, I found Memsaheb on Thames, which offered Indian food on a bayfront-style restaurant.
The restaurant itself is located in the unfortunately-named Isle of Dogs in East London.  The restaurant is spacious with a modern feel, though it did kind of remind me of small town Indian restaurants.
There is free parking, and a view of the Thames in the distance, though this would probably be better appreciated in the daytime.
Our Tastecard afforded us a BOGOF on a starters and mains, but we had to pay full price for our sides, such a poppadams, rice, naan and paratha.
Here’s what we had:
A chutney tray served with two popadams
Poppadams!

 

The popadoms came with the usual fayre of dices onions, mint sauceand mango chutney.  The mango chutney was unusually my favourite.  I don’t usually like he sweetened puree normally served at Indian restaurants.  However, this was a stronger, tamarind infused chutney which had a flavour to rival the chutneys at the Michelin starred Benares Indian restaurant, which I have review here. 

Though that’s where the similarities end.
crab curry on a poori, or deep fried chapatti
Crab puri

Starters at Memsaheb on Thames

The crab puri starter was a mix of crab meat and onion in spices.  What it lacked in presentation, it made up for in taste. The lemony-meaty flavour went well with the puri, and it w as a really nice change to order crab, as they don’t often serve it at Indian restaurants.  Though it think this crab meat was more of the tinned variety than fresh.
Starters of Seekh kebab, samosa, chicken and salad
Mixed starters – seekh kebab, chicken tikka, onion bhaji and lamb samosa
The mix-starter was so-so, as I felt that some of the meats lacked flavour.  It seemed like the restaurant was catering for a non-Asian audience and keeping the spices to a minimum.
Lamb Xiacatu curry and chicken jalfrezi served at Memsaheb on Thames
Mains

Mains at Memsaheb on Thames

However, the heat was certainly present in the chicken jalfrezi main.  The green chillis added a real kick that was almost too spice for me, and the sliced fried onions were the perfect accompaniment.

I wasn’t so keen on the lamb curry.  Despite its unusual name – Lamb Xacuti – it tasted like run-of the mill lamb, and a reheated lamb at that.  Both mains came in decent sized portions, so could easily be shared between two. We paid just over £25.00 for two of using our Tastecard, and we had only bought one soft drink and had water.  This was reasonable, but if we had paid the full price of nearly £40, I would feel like we hadn’t really had value for money.

So here’s my quick-fire summary…

Memsaheb on Thames restaurant review in a nutshell

Price – two can dine for under £40.  Though cheaper with Tastecard

Halal – yes.  Some vegetarian options available.

Great if… you want something slightly different (I’m referring to the crab puri starter, not the rest of the menu).  Also great if you like your starters mild.

Not so great if… you’re a curry aficionado. This is a bit run-of-the-mill I’m afraid.

HalimaBobs

About the Author

HalimaBobs

I’m a British-Bengali Muslim mum-of-two. My pictures aren’t filtered and neither are my words. I’m not a makeup artist, chef or lifestyle guru. I’m just me, sharing honest beauty reviews for brown skin, halal restaurant finds, travel inspo, mum life hacks, easy Bengali recipes and more. If that’s your bag, keep reading!

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