Good Friday At Wembley Tandoori

I suppose I could’ve picked a better day. It was a Friday, not just any, it was Good Friday. The rail works and station closure delayed my journey by half an hour. Well there goes my punctuality down the drain. On a positive note, that’s just a bit of my culture I guess, Nepali timing hoina ra?

As I entered Wembley Tandoori, I could see V waiting for me with a smug look. A total opposite were the waiters and the manager at the restaurant, showing their Colgate smile and zooming past different tables to ensure everyone had a ‘Good Friday’. On top of my normal coke that I ordered, we got offered a nice bubblegum pitcher. Slight taste of alcohol on a Friday night, how bad can it get right? Though I must say, the sweetness completely absorbed whatever alcohol there was. Following the recommendations of the man in charge, Umesh KC also known as MR KC to many online followers, I had an assortment of Nepali and non-Nepali dish for my starters. Remembering the chicken chhoila makes me drool as I write this. Can chicken taste any finer? And it had that right amount of spice. My love for chicken reached a whole another level as I tried the chicken wings, just f a n t a s t i c. I am not even exaggerating there. Even though I’m not too keen on seafood, I couldn’t resist myself from having a quick nibble of the calamari from V’s plate and that was pretty delish. I definitely won’t be knocking that off the menu next time.

Whilst other Nepalese restaurants might be serving the traditional daal-bhat in a thali plate, the folks at Wembley Tandoori have gone the extra mile with the ‘Gurkha Box’. Probably a sister to the Bento Box, the Gurkha Box serves plain rice, daal (lentils), aloo (potato), chicken curry and chutney. It’s affordable and has just the right portions for a quick bite. Of course, us Nepalis are never full with just one serving so I decided to order chicken momo and try the Gurkha Challenge as well. One can never go wrong with a momo and that Good Friday was another example of momo living up to its name and fame. Now the all-important Gurkha Challenge consists of one of the hottest, spiciest, tear-jerkers of a curry with plain rice, the dare is to finish the whole thing. What do you get I hear you say. Well the biggest thing about this is, finishing it, because only 5 people have managed to complete the challenge so far. Along with that life-changing status you also receive a certificate and a free Gurkha beer. I took one spoonful of the curry and my mouth was literally on fire. Forget water, even the lassi wasn’t of much help with the burning sensation that quickly took over my body. My few words to the manager went along the lines of “that is not a curry”. But hey, people have won the challenge, let me know if you every try it and how it goes for you.

The evening came to a wrap as the waiter dai brought over a chocolate samosa. My wild imagination of aloo and all sorts mixed with chocolate nearly had me invisibly spilling my guts out on the table but eventually, once I did take a bite of the chocolate samosa, I was asking for more. It tasted better than one of those warm cookie dough desserts from Pizza Hut, no joke.

As someone who doesn’t really experiment with food, this was a place where I could depend on my regulars whilst being a little daring and picking that odd item to try. You know where you have to be next, Wembley Tandoori 😉

PS. I forgot to mention but I had the tandoori as well and yep, just like the momo – it deffo lived up to its name. ALSO 10% discount if you say my name! Woop woop!!