Dhaba 49 is a new North Indian restaurant in West London. We were invited to their exclusive preview event a few weeks ago before they officially opened their doors a few days after. Location-wise, it is situated in between Westbourne Park and Maida Vale, which isn’t a spot we normally explore.

The area isn’t very commercialized so we must admit we had our doubts. But then once we reached the spot, we were greeted by an elegant ornate wooden door and were transported into a different space once we stepped in. We really adored the setting and interior of the place. In particular with the bus artwork on the wall, bicycle over the door, and the dimly lit setting – it’s a really nice set up for a dinner date.

Drinks

Ghanta Ghar Ki Shikanji / Tropical Fruit Punch

The Ghanta Ghar Ki Shikanji is a famous and traditional drink from the streets of India. It is made with fresh lime juice, mint sprigs, salt, sugar syrup, and topped with lemonade and water. The flavour of this drink was eccentric. The infusion of salty and sweet flavours resembles a drink we have in Hong Kong that mixes salted lemons and 7up together. It may be confusing at first but is certainly something unique to try.

As for their Fruit Punch, it consists a blend of passion fruit juice, mango juice, guava juice with coconut syrup and lychee juice. It’s certainly a fruity one with a rich and exotic touch.

Starters

Amritsari Fish & Hariyali Chicken

Moving onto starters. The Amritsari Fish were an absolute delight. They were fried fish in bite-size, making it the perfect nibble. The coating was well-seasoned with a subtle touch of spice to tease the palate. The Hariyali Chicken was soft and tender, with a nice minty tangy touch to it.

Palak Patte Ki Chaat

While we were expecting a typical papri chaat, Dhaba 49 offers a unique twist by using crispy spinach. Delightfully light and crispy, it would turn spinach-haters into spinach lovers. The extra crispiness and the soft bed of chaat creates a lovely contrast to the texture. The whole dish was fairly light and makes the perfect starter to open up your palate.

Tandoori Paneer & Malai Broccoli

We thought the Tandoori Paneer was a bit mediocre as the spices weren’t teasing and punchy enough. The Malai Broccoli though was certainly one we loved. The malai sauce was enriching and added a luscious touch to the ordinary broccoli. We even joked it’s almost like a creamy broccoli cheese in Indian style!

Main Course

Krahi Meat / Tiffin Chicken / Cucumber Raita / Naan

Curries at Dhaba 49
Karahi Meat (left), Chicken Tiffin (right)

The Karahi Meat had a heavier taste and richer texture compared to the Chicken Tiffin. Both meats were cooked fairly tender. Though I do wished it was more melt-in-your-mouth and could tear off at the touch of a fork. The amount of spice in the curries were relatively mild for Indian food. In particular with the Karahi Meat, I was certainly expecting a sharper punch of spice.

The cucumber raita was refreshing as expected. It was a great option to wash down and lighten up all those rich curries. As for the naan, it was hand-rolled and offered this ridiculously soft and fluffy texture on the inside. With the nice subtle crisp on the outside, it was perfect to pick up all that delicious curry sauce.

Handi Vegetables

This one was a hearty dish of curried mixed vegetables. It was a really lovely dish to have on the side as the flavours weren’t too loud.

Paneer Butter Masala at Dhaba 49

Paneer Butter Masala

While we both absolutely love paneer, this one was a tad underwhelming. It was done really rich and creamy, which seemed to overpower the spices and overall flavours.

Jeera Aloo Anardana

Again subtly spiced but this one was pretty delightful. Our favourite part about the dish is how soft the potatoes were and that they’re of bite-sizes. It was just satisfying to have that mushy potatoes complemented with flavoursome spices and aroma.

Dhaba Dal / Pilau Rice

The dal has a subtle spice and carries a fairly comforting touch to it. It was perfect to go with their fluffy and fragrant pilau rice.

Dessert

Stick Kulfi / Chocolate Fondant

Last but not least, we were offered two desserts to wrap up the evening. There were the kulfi sticks, with two flavours available for the evening. We opted for one each – a mango flavour and cream flavour respectively. Both were tremendously creamy and quite rich.

As for the chocolate fondant, the presentation was certainly a winning one. The warm chocolate fondant was topped with vanilla ice cream and crunchy bites. While typically served with a raspberry sauce, Dhaba 49 embraced the Indian style by using mango instead – and it worked well. The centre was gooey but I would have personally preferred it to be more molten and gushing out of the cake.

In summary…

…I thought the meal at Dhaba 49 had been fairly decent. I like the concept of the place but thought it may need a bit more work to stand out among other contemporary Indian restaurants across the city. In my personal opinion, the food was more catered to a westernized palate rather than offering an Indian punch.

 

RATING:
  • Food
  • Value
  • Atmosphere
  • Service
2.6

Halal Status

Halal, but alcohol present at premises


 


Tel: 020 3489 2424 | Website: https://dhaba49.com/

Nearest station: Maida Vale


Check out other Indian restaurants in London

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