Malabar Junction London

3 2 Reviews

Indian in London - Bloomsbury
107A Great Russell Street , Bloomsbury, London, WC1B 3NA
+44 (0) 20 7580 5230

Malabar Junction serve a variety of South Indian dishes at their restaurant, and can cater for private parties of up to 35 guests upon request. They also have a licensed bar area. A takeaway menu is also available.

Tags: Central London, cheap, city, cuisine: south indian, dinner, fish, indian, private parties: up to 35 guests, relaxing, south indian, takeaway, vegetarian dishes

Malabar Junction London Reviews

Miss C.

4 reviews

a bit dated and cheesy looking - this palce specialises in "malabar" a.k.a south indian (kerala) food. being from kerala myself, i would rate the food as a bit above average - nothing spectacular. the food preparations obviously cater to the european population and therefore they are nothing like the original - the spices are pretty toned down and the masala is very light. the menu according to me is pretty pricey and you dont exactly get very much in quantity either. but, their cocktails were blended to perfection. my pinacolda was freaking awesome, so was my husband's mary!

and yeah, the decor is super cheesy and sort of dated. the fluorecent plastic flowers were making my head ache! i would suggest you go here if you want just starters and a great cocktail. if you are indian / asian and expect authentic indian food, avoid this place at all cost. 18-04-08

Tags: city, cuisine: south indian, kerala, malabar junction, malayali food, zone one

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andrew w.

26 reviews

Let's do the timewarp again... - The Malabar Junction hasn't really left the 1980's. When I arrived at the door I was expecting a bad time. It's got pictures of the food in the window, which normally is the kiss of death, and to make matters worse inside it was half empty, with the staff outnumbering the punters. Standing there in the lashing rain I cursed the guy who suggested we have dinner at such an old fashioned tourista venue.

But I was wrong. Admittedly inside it's like an episode of Miami Vice with pink tablecloths, turquoise walls, cheesy water features and mock-doric mock-classical mock-columns with coloured light bulbs completing the Ferrero Rocher effect... but look up at the beautiful 19th century glass roof and you start to soften. It has all the hallmarks of Indian restaurants that resounded to lager-swilling city brokers making "goodness gracious me" racist impressions and talking about their bonuses whilst guzzling greasy curry - but the food tells a different story - hinted at by the badly masked architectural gem of the roof.

They specialise in South Indian fish cuisine, which is fresh and tasty and very cheap. OK, my dry-cooked crab with spinach and coconut wasn't the best meal I'd ever eaten, but was well prepared and satisfying. Egged on my dinner companion I swilled a few Kingfishers, munched some poppadoms (the best chutneys I've eaten) and relaxed in the quiet, comfortable environment and let the attentive and fantastically polite staff massage my misgivings away.

High class Indian restaurants are expensive and hard to find, cheap ones which serve up greasy ghee-laden, overcooked mass catering are all too common. The Malabar junction sits somewhere in-between. The food has real credibility (home cooked paratha to die for), the staff are excellent and this is certainly NOT a place you might stagger into at closing time for "the hottest thing on the menu".

It's a class act, if belonging to a different decade and century. If you fancy a quick cheap curry and want a really good meal to boot, this place may just be the puff-ball skirt and shoulder pads you've been looking for. 06-12-07

Tags: anonymous, central london, cheap, dinner, fish, indian, lager, relaxing