New Tayyab

[Steve Plotnicki]

Can someone quickly post the address for New Tayyeb? I have a friend who is in London waiting eagerly by the phone so she can have dinner there tonight. And of course the concierge in her hotel can't find the place.

[Gavin Jones]

New Tayyab: 83 Fieldgate St. 020 7247 9543

Nearest Tube: Whitechapel

According to Time Out

[Steve Plotnicki]

Thanks Mr. Jones .

[Akiko]

Tony,

Were all the things you ordered for us at the egullet dinner actually available on the menu? My girlfriends who I grew up with in Chicago are arriving this week and amongst the restaurants that I've handpicked for them to go to is New Tayyab. It will be the first time I go back since our dinner there with you and I'm not sure what to order although I know they will love everything.

We'll definitely have the paratha, I've had it several times since but never as good as New Tayyab... what else is actually on the menu and would you recommend us not to miss ordering for them?

What other egulleters go to New Tayyab, and what are your favorite dishes there?

We're also going to take them to Providores Tapas, St. John's, and Le Pigalle if anyone would like to recommend favorite dishes from those places!

[SamanthaF]

St. John's

Bone Marrow and Parsley salad. Yummy!

[Akiko]

Sam,

That is a definite, on my first and last visit to st John's there were so many other "new" things on the menu that I'd never tried before while bone marrow salad is something we ate all the time in NY (Prune Restaurant) and grew up eating the bone marrow in other ways that we skipped this. But since then, I've heard that Fergus's bone marrow salad is the "quintessential" experience... besides, I haven't had it in a long time and I miss it . Can't wait to have it.

[Tonyfinch]

Akiko, they have daily specials. The Nihari ( slow braised lamb shank in a spicy sauce) is only available on Mondays unfortunately and is often sold out by 7pm in the evening. They do Batera (quails) on a Tuesday. I can't remember the other days.

The grilled sizzling meats with rotis or naans are the starters to have,. You must not miss ther siki kebabs and their lamb chops. The tandoori chicken and fish are also good.

You must try their dahls. Ther's a variety. I'm currently completely addicted to their Kerala (bitter gourd) dahl, but it is a bit of an acquired taste. The brain masala we had is not on the menu. They did that specially for us.

Ask for a dish called "dry meat". Its a curry where all the liquid has been cooked down and what's left is just what is clinging to the meat. . It's the only dish they use butter ghee for and its very rich but gorgeous.

I've just rediscovered a liking for chickpeas and I'm enjoying their Chicken and Chickpea curry at the moment.

Don't bother with prawns and don't bother with rice unless there's a special pullao or biryani on. Stick to rotis naans and parathas. Pakistanis are wheat eaters not rice eaters.

Enjoy!

[Akiko]

You have just left the window open for me to ask a question that I've been wondering forever... neophyte to Indian and Pakistani food that I am... what is biryani?

I see it on so many menus and have been tempted to order it just to find out what the heck it is.

Thanks for all the suggestions Tony. I'm going to print that out and bring it with me as my "map" to ordering!

[Tonyfinch]

Well I was waiting for Scottish Chef but he doesn't appear to be about.

For Biryani a meat or chicken curry is made. Then rice is either boiled or it can be fried with cumin.

Onions are fried sometimes potatoes also. The separate elements are then assembled together to make one dish, sometimes garnished with saffron which may also have been used to colour and flavour streaks of the rice.

A pullao is made more like a paella or risotto with the rice benig cooked in a stock and then spices added and browned chicken or meat added to the pot so that it all cooks together.

I have to say they are not my favourite dishes but I'm not a massive rice fan.

[Audrey]

What to do when you see a waiter stealing the tip you left, leaving just 90p on the wee silver dish, as my Tayyab trip last week? Especially when he didn't serve you and when you asked him mid-meal for an extra dhal, failed to bring it? Having shirked confronting him, should I finger him next time?

[Tonyfinch]

Ask to speak to Salim or Wasim and tell them about it. They do seem to have a pretty casual attitude to money there generally. Everybody and anybody seems to pick up bills and tips whether they've served you or not. Different people work the till depending on who's around. I can never figure it out and I'm there at least once a week.

[Audrey]

I don't mid other people picking them up when they are going to be pooled but i saw the pound coins sneaked into the waiter's hand then pocket and the smash left on the plate.

It's also that the little guy with spikey hair and moustache - Ali I think - is always brilliant with me when I am there and it is annoying when his tips are knicked.

Ax

[Tonyfinch]

Actually I always go up to the till when I want to pay and leave the tip with whoever's manning it. I must ask them what they do about distributing tips.

They've now got a computerised till which itemises your bill but up until recently they just added it up in their heads. Several times I noticed mistakes but at least 50% of the time the mistakes were in my favour!

[Akiko]

I was wondering how the bill came to so little... now I'm thinking that they definitely made a mistake in our favor.

Tony, thank you for all the suggestions, we ordered just about everything you suggested and then some more dishes on top of that!

The lamb chops are incredible as is their chicken tikka starter. My friends loved the dry meat curry and there was a special meat biryani and it was excellent.

And of course, I love their paratha and the keema nan. Is Paratha made with yeast and Nan with no yeast? That's what one of my friends' thought. Or is the only difference the addition of ghee?

Some of the best lassi I've ever had.

I didn't pay enough attention to what happened to our tip... the bill was so cheap and the food was so wonderful and most of us being americans, we tipped quite generously..... since we were waited on by several people, I hope it was pooled and distributed.

[Tonyfinch]

I love their paratha and the keema nan.  Is Paratha made with yeast and Nan with no yeast?  That's what one of my friends' thought.

Akiko, it's the other way round actually. Parathas are made with plain flour and water, rolled and twisted several times with butter, then fried and finished off with ghee-no yeast

Nans are made with self raising flour, yeast, amd sometimes a little butter and yogurt and baked

Rotis are just water and flour baked.

Well they shouldn't be making bill mistakes now. You were surprised because the restaurant really is amazingly cheap by any standards in London. Given the quality of the food, hey're practically giving it away. I just can't go to an upmarket Indian ,despite the more comfortable surroundings, and pay £6.50 for a portion of Sikki Kebebs when I know I can go to NT and have a more authentic version for 70p per stick.

[SamanthaF]

Had the pleasure of dining at NT last night with Scott and the brothers Grim - sorry - Majumdar

It was a protein fest and I can confirm reports that Simon was seen intaking some carbs by way of the fabulous breads that NT offers.

We managed to put away 3 sizzling platters of lamb chops, chicken, more lamb in cubes, those hot as hell little kebab things and some dhals.

The bill came to £46.00 - FOR THE TABLE Where else in London can you eat such fantastic food for that price?

[Simon Majumdar]

A fun evening and, as Sam says, ridiculously cheap

We had

8 lamb chops

7 pieces of tandoori chicken

2 orders of mutton tikka

2 orders chicken tikka

8 shammi kebabs

Bhuna gosht

Dahl

2 roti

1 paratha

1 naan

All was excellent with the exception of the second order of Lamb chops which were very dry

For £less than £12 a head, that's not bad

We also got through 4 bottles of wine ( three spanish reds and a NZ SB ) a couple of pints and a few brandys

All in all a good night, even if it was in the company of the Friars

S

Edited May 26, 2003 by Simon Majumdar (log)

[macrosan]

For £less than £12 a head, that's not bad

Yeah, I guess that's not bad value

We also got through 4 bottles of wine ( three spanish reds and a NZ SB ) a couple of pints and a few brandys. All in all a good night, even if it was in the company of the Friars

Those friars can sure tuck in to a bevy or two. Just like in the days of Robin Hood.

I really must get back to that place !!!!

[Bapi]

I am meeting up with some friends at Whitechapel tube station and eating here tomorrow evening. Does anyone know of a good venue to meet for a quick drink before the meal ?

Many thanks

[SamanthaF]

The Good Samaritan just a few steps away.

[Bapi]

Cheers for that Sam; we will give it a go tonight.

I PM'd Simon and Tony Don Finchioni for a few more details about what to have and what not to, tonight, but they don't seem to be around ( or more likely they are ignoring me!!). Any suggestions gratefully received.

Cheers

Bapi

[Winot]

I PM'd Simon and Tony Don Finchioni for a few more details about what to have and what not to, tonight, but they don't seem to be around ( or more likely they are ignoring me!!). Any suggestions gratefully received.

The "starters" are worth concentrating on (although they tend to bring everything together), esp. kebabs, masala fish, tandoori chicken and lamb.

Major on breads rather than rice (the plain nan is the best I've ever had).

Specials can be interesting although tend to sell out early. The kahari ghosht is good. Ask about vegetarian dishes -- the best usually aren't listed on the menu.

The mango lassi is sublime.

Hope this helps,

W.

[SamanthaF]

I'll second Winots comments about the lassi - the perfect cooler.

The grilled meats are fantastic, and the good thing is you can order as many or as few as you like.

Don't forget it is BYO (no charge) If you take wine with you, make sure you take a corkscrew.

[Bapi]

I had been meaning to try this place since reading about the egullet dinner there last year, which was organised by Tony Finch. A group of us ventured over there last week and a fantastic meal. We arrived at 7.30pm and the room was already packed and very buzzy. The tables are quite small and packed close together but this didn't deter us as the food smelt and looked amazing as the waiters whisked by us.Taking heed of what Tony had said above on this thread, we opted for a large selection of starters to be eaten with tandoori rotis. We had:

6 Papads( plus chutneys)

6 Seekh kebabs

2 Chicken Tikka

1 Mutton Tikka

2 Tandoori Chicken (4 pieces)

2 Massala Fish (4 pieces)

2 Lamb chops (8 pieces)

2 Meat samosa

1 Vegetable samosa

4 Tandoori Rotis.

The grilled meats were truly superb, arriving sizzling away on two platters. The tandoori chicken really stood out as did the succulent fish. My favourite however, were the seekh kebabs; very tender and spicy and a ridiculously cheap at 70 pence a pop. The Lamb chops were good, but a couple were a smidgen too charred for my liking.

Main courses.

1 Mughal Korma

1 Dry meat

1 Chicken Karahi

1 Bindhi Gosht

2 Pillau rice

1 Tandoori nan

1 Tandoori Keema nan

1 Tandoori Paratha

The waiter very sensibly stopped me and said we had ordered enough food, which I thanked him for. The mughal korma was a slightly sweetish, creamy lamb special. Both the Karahi and the Bindhi(okra) Gosht were pleasant as well. But the best dish and the one I had been wanting to try was the Dry meat. Not the most appetising sounding of dishes, but blimey, it was good. Moist pieces of meat in a deep brown heavily reduced unctuous sauce with a sprinkling of fried onions on top. Breads were fantastic as well. Unfortunately the Meat Pillau special had already run out, as I had been warned it might, so we opted for their standard pillau rice; very average and I would concur that sticking with their excellent breads is the way to go. I have to say we were beaten by the main courses, having polished off every morsel of the starters. Mains incidentally, are a ridiculously generous £4 pounds on average. We also took one bottle of wine and a various assortments of beers with us and SamF, they actually popped a corkscrew down on the table for us as we arrived, so no worries there thankfully

To finish 6 Malai Kulfi's- Rosie was feeling the heat of the food at this stage and needed this to cool down.

A great meal and we realised that we had been in there for just under three hours; the customers on the table behind me having changed three times whilst we were there. But we were never rushed by the staff, so they could reuse our table. If anything, it was a little difficult to actually get the bill at the end of the meal. Which leads me to the price ...... go on guess...... For all the above food we paid a mere £70.40 between six !!! Needless to say that we are already planning a return trip. Next time we will probably concentrate on the grilled meats to start with and have less main courses, sticking only to the breads. Go and enjoy a truly superb meal at minuscule prices for this fair city.

Thanks to Winot , Sam and Tony for the info

[Charlene Leonard]

am I right i thinking you can't book? How long did you have to wait for a table?