Tayabs

Wild rumours had been circulating. I had heard with astonishment that Tayyabs, the Punjabi cafe had finally instituted a booking system. Though it had always been possible to make a booking, groups of anything less than 10 who had made the effort were usually met with a mixture of bemused stares or simply ignored whilst being waved to the back of the gargantuan snake like queue.

This, along with a complete lack of organisation in this stalwart of Whitechapel curry houses has always left me as stressed on the way out as I was hungry on the way in and in the past we have retreated to the slightly less overcrowded Lahore Kebab House round the corner on more than one occasion. The size of the queues are though, clearly signal the quality of the food.

This time however, the table booking was acknowledged. Yes, they had given our table to someone else but we were seated in 15 minutes rather than the usual 40, the queue seemed better managed and the waiters were reasonably polite. The only thing that hadn't changed was the food. Mixed grill was a gently spiced meaty delight and included the famous tandoori lamb. The sag aloo provided the two veg for our meat and the Nan breads were little pillows of yeasty goodness, a touch charred from the Tandooor oven. Marsala Fish was excellent, the turmuric and chili powder marinade having worked their overnight magic.

All this was washed down with a round of sweet Mango Lhassi though you can of course BYOB. For those who have not had the pleasure, one visit will ensure you never return to Brick Lane for your spice fix and you can now book safe in the knowledge that your reservation will (probably) get you a table.