Royal Mahal Tooting

"Royal Mahal is a non-stop party in a fake palace. You could question the taste level of this Pakistani restaurant in Tooting, or you could embrace the velvet throne-chairs and the dynamite chicken in a silver goblet. Waiters waving sparklers form a conga line as a birthday song blasts out over the speakers. The food is pretty good, but really you’re here for the birthday remix track." - jake missing, rianne shlebak, sinead cranna, heidi lauth beasley

"This Pakistani restaurant in Tooting is a non-stop party in a fake palace. Yes, you could question the taste level—there’s a neon-lit rock display in the bathroom. Or you could embrace the velvet throne-chairs and the silver goblet your dynamite chicken comes served in. Don’t expect a life-changing lamb biryani. This is where you come for unabashed good-times mania, conga lines of sparklers, and dry ice billowing out of the dynamite chicken." - jake missing, daisy meager, sinead cranna, rianne shlebak, heidi lauth beasley

"We’ve heard there’s an ongoing rivalry between Tooting locals who think Lahore Karahi is the best Pakistani restaurant in the area, and ones who back Dawat all the way. We’re undecided which takes the number one spot for us, but once we tried the Dawat special mixed grill, we understood why there were family divides over this place. It’s a casual, buzzing spot with groups tucking into a chicken jalfrezi, and friends fighting over the last tandoori king prawn whether it’s the weekend or a Tuesday night." - rianne shlebak, heidi lauth beasley, daisy meager, sinead cranna

"It’s July and you’ve just asked your partner if they’re looking forward to Christmas. It’s official, you’ve run out of things to say. Royal Mahal is a Pakistani restaurant in Tooting where it’s OK to be speechless. There’s so much going on that it's practically like going to a show anyway. Starters of dynamite chicken are served in silver goblets, delivered by bow tie-wearing waiters, and come with a side of billowing dry ice. At regular intervals a conga line of sparklers leaves the kitchen as a birthday song is blasted out over speakers. This isn’t where you come for a life-changing lamb biryani, but it’s where you come to stare wide-eyed at the golden chandeliers and wordlessly point at the neon-lit rock display in the bathroom. " - rianne shlebak, jake missing, sinead cranna

"At Royal Mahal, starters of dynamite chicken are served in silver goblets with a side of billowing dry ice. And they’re delivered by bowtie-wearing waiters. Before we had a chance to say “what the—”, a conga line of sparklers left the kitchen and a birthday song began blasting out over the speakers. This Pakistani restaurant in Tooting is a non-stop party in a fake palace. Yes, you could question the taste level—there are more chandeliers than we could count on one hand and a neon-lit rock display in the bathroom. Or you could embrace the blue velvet banquettes and take it all perfectly seriously. While some of the food reads a bit gimmicky, like pizza samosas, for the most part it’s good. But this isn’t where you come for a life-changing lamb biryani. This is where you come for unabashed birthday mania surrounded by all gold everything, and to pull out videos of dry ice like you were at a U2 concert and wonder incredulously, “did that really happen?”. " - Sinéad Cranna