Qype User (Hungry…)
Yelp
For pictures and more:
http://hungryinlondon.com/2010/10/silka-london-bridge/
Another theatre, another pre-theatre dinner. This time I went to the Menier Chocolate Factory to see The Number (a very weird play about clones, making me think how awful it would be to have clonal copies of myself around. I wonder if I would like myself?). But this is not a theatre blog and I shall return in medias res and describe my meal at Silka next to Borough Market. Silka is an Indian restaurant serving relatively light Indian food and it is on Taste London for a 2for1 offer. It is a basement restaurant which is hard to miss with an inconspicuous white door facing Southwark Street.
On its website it claims to be the calm and soothing antidote to hectic London life which proved to be more than true, not because of the overall atmosphere which is even though not unpleasant certainly not quite what they promise, but because of the power failure half way through our meal. The little emergency light was quite soothing, especially for us as we had already received our food. I am not sure the other people waiting for their food were equally thrilled, as of course also all kitchen work ceased. We left about 25 minutes after the power failure with no signs of the electricity being restored and I have no idea how the evening ended for the poor diners. They might very well still be there waiting for their chicken tikka
But now to the food: Silka is not the best Indian in town, but it's not bad especially when used with a Taste London offer. Of the 4 dishes we had, one was actually really good while the other three were nothing to write home about. A complete failure was the vegetable side dish Begun (4) the 'baby' aubergines were not baby at all, they were greasy and tasteless. A little bit of salt would already have gone a long way
The spicy crab cakes (4.75) as a starter were really spicy and actually quite nice. The crab was mixed with potatoes and coconut resulting in an interesting combination of flavour and texture.
The second starter (lemon sole wrapped in banana leaf, 5.25) could have been successful if the fish had not been completely overcooked. I wonder how you can mistreat a poor fish to this extent, it surely did not deserve that! It certainly was not 'gently steamed' as stated in the menu The remains of the steamed-to-death fish were coated in a coriander/mint pesto which I really liked. Shame about the fish really.
The Keralan Fish Curry (8.95) was boring. There was nothing obviously wrong with it, the fish for example was comparably tender but it just lacked some proper seasoning and flavour.
The Haryali Chicken Tikka (8) however was a success. What you think is broccoli is actually grilled chicken coated in a paste of green peppers, chili and pistachio. The chicken was soft and succulent and very flavoursome. And it is certainly the greenest food (apart from green vegetables) that I have ever eaten.
The service was attentive and friendly. However, when the power failure happened they could have been a bit more pro-active and e.g. offer some free drink or similar to the customers who had to wait forever for their food.
Silka is definitely not an outstanding restaurant, but it's decent and with Taste London offer well worth a visit if you are in this area for a quick bite to eat if you feel like Indian food.