Laziza - Brighter than the sun!

Towards the Tooting Bec end of the high street, this curry house sits up in the canteen landscape that adorns the far reaches of Tooting Curry Club's boundaries. Nestled in amongst Chatkhara and Lahori Spice Village, we wondered if this would be another hidden gem in the world of Indian cuisine. We went in a bit more covert this time with just five attendees, of which three were regular members. The group had been getting too large of late and it made us conspicuous and difficult to serve. We just wanted a normal and quick curry tonight so we ventured in, in a smaller group. Apologies to Lurch who missed out on curry because of this approach!

http://www.lazizarestaurant.co.uk/

Kept thinking the page wouldn't load properly but then realised that is the actual website, Amusing.


Present were:

Berry7
Big Dunc.
Nickos (The Chapati Kid)
Co-pot and his mate.

This place is the brightest venue in Tooting. It eminates whiteness from withn and looks like it could guide the 3 wise men home on a particularly bleak night. You can't miss it and so it had attracted my attention for a while. Being reasonably new I wanted to see what it had to offer.

On entering we were greeted with warm smiles and ushered to a seat. Immediate attention was given to us and it was a pleasing beginning. The menu was extensive and pretty cheap on first perusal and this all boded well for us. We asked a fair few questions about what to order and each time we got sound and knowledgable advice. The popadoms were a little bit greasy and the dips plentiful but not very exciting and obviously mass produced. Nothing great and nothing bad so we tucked in.

For starters we had some nice kebabs, both chilli and normal ones, but the bhajis and samosas were a little bit on the disappointing side. It was all ok though and we were hoping the mains would give us a bit of a lift. For mains we ordered kebab karahi, chicken jalfrezi, chicken korma, lamb dopiaza and lamb haleem, the last being a recommendation from the waiter. Bring it on then! On top of this we had a saag paneer and a some bhindi bhajee.

The mains were really quite disappointing. The korma had a very thin sauce and no real flavour at all and the jalfrezi wasn't spicy in the least. Which left our two guests a little aggrieved after hearing so much goodness about curries in Tooting, and us a little embarrassed. The lamb dopiaza was quite good mind and the kebab karahi was probably the winner. But that often comes down to the strong taste of the kebab meat which we all like a lot, rather than the curry I find. My lamb haleem had a nice enough lentilly flavour but I could not find a single piece of meat in it. I asumed it must be minced or something but it just seemed to be a lentil dish to me. Which was a shame really as it had a nice flavour, This may be my lack of understanding about Indian cooking though so I may have just ordered the wrong type of dish. The okra was the best part of the meal but special, special mention to the saag paneer which was the worst I have ever tasted. It was bitter and inedible. Considering all of us agreed when ordering that saag paneer was a favourite of ours, this was a massive let down. Special mention to the massive mango lassis mind which were delicious.

The place - 5 out of 10. It was your typical canteen but it did little to make it feel homely. it is sterile and bright on entry which doesn't make it feel very comfortable and it was also pretty quiet. It was clean and so on, so you can't complain as such but it really offered nothing other than a table and some chairs.

The Service - 7.5 out of 10. They scored well on service. From the moment we came in we were treated well and attended to regularly. Menus were explained and recommendations made, At the end as well, they brought us out some free desserts and the owner had a chat with us. It was a real effort in that respect and it was appreciated.

Starters and Sundries - 4 out of 10. Just nothing of real note. In an area flooded with curry, it's not really good enough to just serve up average fare and expect people to return. everything was quite bland although the kebabs were good. But then they always are I find, wherever I go. The rice wasn't particularly nice and the breads also failed to inspire. The basics weren't great which is never an encouraging sign.

Curry - 5 out of 10. They just didn't deliver anything exciting really. The okra was the best and very palatable, with the kebab and lamb dishes offereing some nice flavours but the korma, jalfrezi and haleem were a bit lacking and let's never speak of the saag paneer again. I can only assume something went wrong with that. Truly bizarre.

Value for Money - 6 out of 10. It was cheap enough, cosidering how much we ordered. The bill was about £10.50 a head with tip and we got free dessert out of it but I would rather spend that money elsewhere. Being cheap is important to this score but providing good curry is also vital. Just not enough value in that sense.

Total - 27.5 out of 50. An average venue reflected in the scoreline. It was saved by its service which was a nice touch but the food wasn't up to scratch. If a little extra effort was made with the food and the decor then it could do well. It just needs to provide a slightly better level of taste.

Happy meal costs were:
Tarka dall - £2.75.
Plain naan - 60p..
Plain rice - £1.30.
Plain lassi - £1.50.

Total - £6.15. Good cheap prices.

So a friendly venue which could work harder on its dishes. Room for improvement there. Oh and a special mention to Big Dunc who was sick after his meal. We have still not established the cause of this but by all accounts it was sheer volume of food and resultant beers rather than anything to do with the curry's hygiene! Good work Dunc. Top quality eating disorder there.

I'm off to Brazil. The Cahapati Kid will bring you the next review. If it's loads better than mine I might remove him from the group.

Berry7.