By
Ida H.
Posted on 17/07/2008
Fancy Indian but want somewhere different than you usual curry stop? The Karahi Sultan in Wembley Park, a Pakistani establishment, cooks their curries individually and will give you a fresh idea of how a curry actually should taste.
The Venue
From the outside the restaurant does not look particularly special, no thanks to its Wembley Park location – not necessarily the best place to look for a really good restaurant – but once you’re inside you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Nothing is over the top or fabulously decorated, just simple wooden tables and chairs with curtains draped along the walls and the kitchen as a part of the dining room. There’s a warm, welcoming feel.
The Atmosphere
This restaurant is most likely to be filled with locals, something probably associated with its location. This doesn’t make you feel out of place though, as the waiters are friendly and moderately chatty. They are careful to explain the somewhat different menu and cooking method and never make you feel either forgotten about or hovered over.
The Food
Curry restaurants often seem to shuffle out the food as if made on a conveyer belt, but this is a different kind of curry. You have to be prepared to wait for up to 30 minutes for your meal, as every dish is individually cooked – once it arrives you will understand why it was worth the wait. They make a promise to cook the food without losing any nutritional value, with a special cooking method that allegedly has been passed on through generations.
The menu is extensive with non-vegetarian and vegetarian starters ranging between £1 and £10, many of them served in sizzler. For the mains, specify if you like your curry hot, medium or mild, and choose from a long list of vegetarian, lamb, chicken and fish dishes. One of the traditional meals, the Karahi comes in many different shapes and forms, but is always cooked carefully to what could be said being perfection, where every spice and ingredient has an obvious role in the dish. The Karahi Lamb, for example, is served with peppers, tomatoes and an essential slice of lemon that binds the flavour together with the tender lamb. All main courses are between £6 - £9 and you can add your own choice of rice (£2 - £6) and can choose from several different naans and parathas.
The Drink
Karahi Sultan restaurant do not serve alcohol and you can’t bring your own, however, for a couple of pounds you can try a fresh lassi (sweet or salty), fresh mango lassi, passion fruit juice, mango juice and a Rooh Afza milkshake (a Pakistani/Indian drink). They also serve mineral water (still, sparkling), soft drinks, tea and coffee.
The Last Word
If not a local, who don’t mind a bit of a trek to Wembley Park, and who wants a really tasty Indian meal, this is the place to go. The Karahi Sultan is not about them looking good, it is about their food in every sense of the word; and they do it very well.