Salaam Namaste Bloomsbury

Went for lunch with my friend and tried their Idly, Aloo tikki, and Pav bhaji. The food was fresh and service was nice and friendly. I have a suggestion, please add coconut chutney with Idly.

My Christmas Day dining at Salaam Namaste didn’t quite live up to expectations, particularly in light of other positive reviews. Here are some areas where it fell short: • The starters included some gristle, which was a bit off-putting. We chose not to try a replacement. • The portions were a bit smaller than anticipated for two people, and there was a slight mix-up with the rice, but it wasn’t a major issue. • The Christmas pudding and coconut ice cream (which tasted similar to vanilla) were not as impressive as hoped. • There were minor service delays, like waiting for plates and spoons for our pudding, but these were resolved fairly quickly. The staff were quite friendly, though the standard 12% service charge seemed a tad high given the overall experience. The non-acceptance of American Express was a minor inconvenience, considering the location. The experience didn’t quite match the enthusiastic reviews I’d read, leaving a bit of a gap between expectation and reality. While not awful, the meal and overall experience, especially considering the £155 cost, didn’t quite capture the festive spirit I had anticipated. It was an alright experience, but not as memorable as I had hoped for a Christmas celebration.

The food was nice, but as an Indian I would say it could have been better, specially with the main course. I visited with one of my Dutch colleague, who was trying the Indian cuisine for the first time. The starters, Chicken Tikka and Sheekh Kebeb were really nice. But the main course we ordered, although I won’t say it was bad, but it did not meet the expectations for sure. The butter chicken was more like a dessert, being too sweet, although the name says “Motimahal Butter Chicken”, to be honest it was no where close to Motimahal (the restaurant which originally created the dish). Second main course was “Hyderabadi Mutton Biryani”, and I specifically asked the waiter if it is really a “Dum Biryani” as you are stating it is a Hyderabadi Biryani, and he had no clue what a Dum Biryani is. In short, the names of the dishes on menu, does give some high expectations, but doesn’t match up to it.