Est.India: National curry week restaurant review

National Curry week ends today and I treated myself to two curries. The first of these was a visit to Est. India near London Bridge. I was invited by the team there and decided to take my parents with me.

I had never heard of the restaurant, but was excited to go. Est.India brings traditional street food to urban fine dining in London. Street food along with Rustic dishes are what the owner Shafiol Alom aims to delight customers with, and we used his guidance to help us order.

Located off Flat Iron Square on Union Street, this new foodie joint is needed in a place sparsely populated with good restaurants. 

Busy and enticing menu

The menu here is a good mix of current trends, especially in Eastern and Asian cuisines. Think gunpowder, Hoppers and Talli Joe; small plates are offered and aimed to be shared, these along with Dosas and more traditional mixed grills are an easy way to try a lot of different things. 

We specifically went for the Kebab platter and a vegetarian Dosa to share between the three of us. We were quite hungry but also wished to experience as much of this new restaurant as we could. The Kebab Platter had sheekh kebab, lamb chops and two varities of chicken. All were very tasty and the lamb chops were nice and meaty. the light char gave more texture which went well with our naan.

The dosa is something that I have only recently begun ordering. I feel like I am becoming a better foodie and this dish I feel highlights this. This south Indian dish or pancake was full of masala veg with coconut chutney and potatoes. It was a nice change and was a good contrast to the kebab platter. Light and airy and it worked really well with some chutney chucked on top.
P.S - my dad was a big fan of the spicy chutney.

Curry goes well with local beer

For our main courses, we again wanted to try as much as possible. We ordered a Lamb biryani, The Railway curry and then a dish specially created for us; a mix between a jalfrezzi and a bhutani lamb, but with CHICKEN. Thank you for this Shaifol.

The service from the staff was a bit slow, but we were told that this was due to a spate of the flu going around. At the time I was slightly annoyed but the owner was very attentive and even let us have a local beer from Beer By Numbers. This beer was very sour like a hoegarden, my dad wasn't the biggest fan, but I was.

Mixed Grill and Dosa

Looked after and treated well. The influence of Persia and Iran is heavily felt here. |This fits well with the name as Iran had established itself in India. The railway curry is the clear example of this. This dish was very familiar to an Iranian dish of Khoresht (stew) with Aubergine. The rich tomato sauce with potatoes was very nice and with the lamb cooked in the sauce, it pulled apart so easily. I am a big fan of the Iranian dish and this one too, bringing back memories of my parents cooking.

​The dish that we all really liked was the special concoction developed by the manager. The mix between jalfrezzi and the bhutani was really good. The aromatic flavour came from frying the onions first and this with a creamy sauce and big bites of chicken were very pleasant. The richness and depth from the spices were a key reason to enjoying this dish. The extra heat from the Jalfrezzi side of things were what my dad especially liked and made sure this dish was well liked by all three of us.

Lamb Biryani - picture courtesy of Est. India

The Biryani was also a dish that we don't usually order, but again, we went for a change. This was a subtle dish with the lamb stored right at the bottom. This was a problem as by the time I found the lamb pieces I was stuffed from all the food. This night was definitely a case of 'eyes bigger than my belly'. Luckily I was able to take this home and Laura was able to have the leftovers. She too, was a fan of the interesting flavours and aromatic herbs and spices used in all the dishes.

The evening was memorable and we did enjoy this new London Indian joint. For National Curry Week, Est. India proved a great venue and more importantly provided great food. Ask the waiters for their recommendations as they will look after you well. Be brave and avoid the classics and try something new.

The new location of Flat Iron Square will hopefully be one for the foodies and Est. India will fit perfectly. 
Thanks for a great night and I hope you all enjoyed National Curry Week. See you next year.