If you’re visiting London a curry on Brick Lane must be on your bucket list. Until last week I’d only experienced this once before and it wasn’t quite the normal experience as I’d been invited along by a TV company to be background support for a Man VS Food style TV pilot where they gave some competitor eaters from America their first ever taste of curry ranging from cool kormas to super spicy vindaloos! It was fun but not quite the usual experience you would get from a curry house in Brick Lane!

Instead I recommend that you give City Spice, the king of Brick Lane, who have a whole host of accolades to their name including most recently the Masterchef curry award 2017. After a whole host of travel issues the staff at City Spice were very accommodating when I popped in bang on 7pm like a whirlwind to tell them I’d be back in just a few minutes with Kariss who was waiting for me at a different station with no battery on her phone after some issues of her own. I hate being late so this wasn’t the best start to the evening but the way they handled it without an issue put me at ease.

When we returned 10 minutes later we were shown to a table in the corner in the upstairs section of the restaurant, given menus to peruse and presented with some poppadum’s and assorted accompaniments to nibble on while we made our decisions. Now usually I wouldn’t comment on this as it’s pretty standard stuff but as well as fantastic onions, sweet mango chutney and chilli sauce the restaurant had their own unique addition – a paste made from coconut and brown sugar mashed together which was simply divine!

Given the awards City Spice had won I thought it would be a crime not to try one of the many dishes they have received these for so instead of my usual korma I went for a twist on it and ordered the Chana Makhoni – chicken cooked with chickpeas in light spice and butter flavoured with garlic and ginger. This was deliciously creamy with big chunks of chicken breast and more flavourful than a korma thanks to the ginger.

It was accompanied by pilau rice and the BEST naan I’ve ever had. Whenever I go for a naan I tend to choose cheese if it’s an option but it can sometimes be disappointingly lacking in cheese. My second option is usually garlic because well I just love it. At City Spice I didn’t have to choose as they offer a  garlic and cheese naan which is the best of both worlds, utterly divine and far from lacking in cheesy goodness! We also split a portion of some rather lovely chickpeas as a side dish which has been recommended to us by our waiter.

Kariss on the otherhand opted for the Meat Thali – a great selection of the restaurants best meat dishes including chocken tikka masala, tandoori chicken, sheek kebab and served with rice, nan and raita on the side. This is a steal at £14.95 for those of you who have commitment issues when it comes to food.

I wouldn’t usually have dessert after such a heavy meal but when I saw the mint and chocolate ice cream on the menu I couldn’t resist – it was a light creamy end to a wonderful meal.

I can’t recommend City Spice enough – it’s definitely the best curry I’ve eaten in London and everything is a reasonable price too.

City Spice
138 Brick Lane
London
E1 6RU
UK