India Club
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we visited on a wednesday night before a concert at summerset house.
atmosphere was a bit funny, the place is very basic so there is no music and it's all quite worn down but that's what gives the place character i guess.
service was a little slow and we had a mix up with the BYO since the waiter told us (after we had bought our drinks from the newsagents next door) that BYO was only allowed from the bar downstairs, it was ok as the waiter let it go so we had no complaints.
food was good, we shared a selection of vegetarian dishes some which were amazing, others not so good. i definitely would not recommend the onion bhajis which we ordered and we found to be very tasteless but that could be just because they are very different from the ones i have had before.
not sure if i would bother going again
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Annie - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating 
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Went to the India Club after seeing so many good reviews on here, and it really doesn't disappoint. We had their set meal which for £15 each was extremely good value and the food was of a quality which was worth alot more than that.
Service was good with the waiter saying what everything was, even saying that if a dish was too spicy, he would get the chef to make something milder.
Yes, its a throwback to the 50's or the 70's, but that is its charm, it is not pretentious (far from it) and it does what it does well!!
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Overall rating 
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Yet again I've taken a bunch of people to the India Club and yet again, everybody comes away saying how marvellous it all is.
The decor has got slightly better since I first went there- the chairs match at the table for instance, and new loos too!!!!! Amazing, given it it used to resemble Calcutta Railway station.
Food is still simple and superb- very authentic, street type food that will be familiar to anyone who likes India.
This is not like going to Brick Lane!!!
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
The retaurant is in a time warp and could be straight out from small town India and is very good depending on what you eat.
Red coloured floor is decidedly points to South Indian origin.
The chapptis and Dal were very good. Very few restaurants offer chapatti and fewwer get to good. This one is good. Ordered the Bhindi which was also very good. Also ordered the Naam. This is all I could eat and I am vegetarian.Reminded me of home cooking.
"Good" indian also depends (like any other cuisine, I suppose) on its definition. For some Chicken Tikka Masala (CTM) is the pinnacle of good Indian food and this is rather helpful because CTM is not Indian!
The staff is mainly South Indian, Naan is North Indian. Naan is North Indian. Do not order Naan at this restaurant.
The ambience was completed with a1970's slow Kishore Kumar hits playing. Perfect. But these are nuances and it helps if you have deep insight/exposure to India.
Definitions of rude are cultural. The staff are in a cultural time warp.
Trust this helps.
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Rahul
Overall rating 
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, April 21, 2008
I and my brother have been eating at the India club for over 50 years. We both fancy our taste in Indian food and believe that eating at the Club is a unique experience. To begin with you are part of history: Krishna Menon, Vijaylakshmi Pundit, Fenner Brockway, maybe even Pundit Nehru have eaten there. The photographs are genuine originals.
Secondly, the atmoshere does go back decades. It has something of the simplicity fo one of those retuarants on railway platforms in India and harks back decades ago. The staff vary from being neutral to friendly, it all depends on your relationship with them. the cleintale was always India House, LSE, Kings College, the Law courts and previously Fleet Street. It is an amazingly democratic restaurant. The prices are low, the food simple but generally good, to the curry educated it has its own characteristic items on the menu.
I would thoroughly recommend it although hoping that it stays a bit exclusive.
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Vinay Chand
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, March 06, 2008
The resturant was suggested by a business associate of mine. Upon entering I noticed that we had stepped back in time. It was 1974. George Davis was still innocent. A picture of Ted Heath hung on the wall. I sat down to a rather pleasant atmosphere, looking across I noticed a number of celebraties, all tucking into their vegetatrian meals. Barbara Cartland smiled whilst chewing on a chilli, and Lord Lucan seemed to be sharpening his knife. The food arrived and we began to play russian roulette with the chillis. A knowing wink from Barbara had me chosing the onion, Click. My business associate, a shifting looking south londoner known only as "Mike", took it down in one. There was silence. He sat chewing, staring straight ahead. He stopped. It was as if time stood still when in slow motion, he reached for the water jug!!! Click...Bang, it was a chilli!!!!!! The place erupted as if the man from Del Montey had just said yes!!!!! He was finished. The bet was that the first to touch the water jug, paid for the meal. The rest of the meal was a delight, and we left leaving a tip.
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John Church
Overall rating 
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Truly amazing dining experience - recommend it to all. Delicious food, home-cooked style and brilliant atmosphere! Will definitely be visiting again very soon!
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Sue
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, November 01, 2007
A colleague and I have just moved to another office near the India Club and we are both ardant curry fans. At our previous location we had a choice of a handful of good quality, varied curry houses in the area and were hoping to find somewhere that was up to their standards.
The India Club is not, I'm sorry to say. The decor was certainly part of the charm on arrival and although the prices were on average £1 - £1.50 per dish more expensive than we are used to we were only too aware that we were a stone's throw from Covent garden.
The service was surly and uncommunicative but inffensive. The only thing that riled me was that the only time the waiter spoke to us throughout the entire meal was to to point out that service wasn't included whilst tapping on the bill and looking at another table. I can only assume he meant that service was not included aspart of the dining experience.
The food itself was simply bad. The cuts of lamb were a little chewy and generally not good, the chicken was reformed and looked pre-cooked before being dropped in to the sauce. The pilau rice was good, but the plain rice was over cooked and my naan was ready-made, dry and tasteless. Finally, the sauces were simply awful, tasting very similar to the tinned curries found in Sainsbury's.
All in extremely dissapointing given some of the favourable reviews I've read on this site.
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Michael Taylor
Overall rating 
Food 2 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Friday, April 13, 2007
Very poor
Yesterday's leftover chicken in a sauce that tasted like it was out of a couple tins - one curry sauce and one soup - both openned yesterday.
Perhaps the vegetrarian food is better.
Will not be returning.
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James Atkin
Overall rating 
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Friday, April 13, 2007
It's unique - a foot (mouth) in the 1950s. I first went there in the 70s, and thought it redolent of a half remembered 1950. The food is of a consistent standard (good or not depends on whether one is a gourmet or a gourmand. I (and my friends) love it.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, March 04, 2007
