Delivery Box - Indian takeaway on Crouch Hill

matt

[http://www.dinnerboxtakeaway.com](http://www.dinnerboxtakeaway.com/) Stopped in at Dinner Box tonight on my way back home from Crouch Hill station. They had been having an open day to introduce the place to new customers and were just in the process of cleaning up after serving hundreds of taster plates throughout the day. Apparently at 6pm the place was rammed! Myself and another random guy enjoyed a very tasty plate (I'm not just saying that because it was free) of lamb bhuna, chicken tikka masala and daal tarka, with a popadom and bottle of cobra. The lamb was very nice, and I don't eat chicken so had to leave that. The lentil was good, not too runny and the rice was fine. They family that run it also run a restaurant in Bromley, and are Nepalese so cook more of a Himalayan style of Indian than your usual British style, although from the menu there is enough crossover to keep everybody happy. They cook the food right in front of your eyes - rather than in a separate room - which I think is a nice touch. Prices are a little higher than other places I use, but you do get complimentary popadum and chutney with every order. Free delivery for orders over £10. 72 items on the menu spread over 9 sections. Obviously, I am quite excited and will be giving it a go this week. best of luck to them as the location is not the greatest, but it is virtually on my doorstep.

unaesthetic

ooh, that sounds interesting! nepalese/himalayan curry would be a nice counterpart to the south indian food at jai krishna. i shall have to give them a go!

matt

here's most of the menu (it's an odd size so didn't fit in my scanner) [](http://i43.tinypic.com/zlf3oo.jpg) click to open at full size

Colette

Yum, cheers Matt - think will get some to eat in front of the footie tonight.

underscore_cue

sounds good, loved this bit from that menu scan (from opening times and service info):

"Dinner Box strongly denies the use of any artificial colouring or preservatives"

all those accusations against them must have been made-up then! Don't just deny it, sue the fuckers for slander!!

Colette

Just got a takeaway from there this evening. Aside from an inauspicious start where I had to repeat my order loudly over a screeching fax sound and then got disconnected, causing me to miss the Hull goal (more of a blessing, come to think of it), I am altogether positive. It was going to need to be pretty good to test my loyalty to Jai, but I have to say the curries were all very fresh tasting - I could taste proper fresh ginger and coriander, and they weren't in the slightest bit oily. Far less oily that Jai actually. I'll be ordering again. Decent veggie selection too (special praise goes to the tandoori paneer).

matt

I had a late start yesterday after waiting in for a courier to pick up (he never came!) and on my way to Crouch Hill station around midday had a look in Dinner Box and the chef was already very busy in preparation for their first full night. Glad to read Colette's review, confirming my initial thoughts about the quality of their dishes. They don't do my "usual" lamb dhansak, so I'm happy to experiment and broaden my horizons.

injoke

gotta stop reading these threads before lunch

Ali

Tried this last night.

Took 20 mins form phone call to it being at the front door.

They cut me off first time when I called.

Food okay but it could be described as subtle or possibly a bit bland althought it was very fresh.

Reminded me of the sort of Indain you get in Australia but I guess there they tend to be Nepalise orientated which this one is according to earlier comments

Probbaly go back as it is an addition to the vergi and the Indian just up Crouch Hill from the Larrik.

Donna

We also tried this last night. The food was, as you say, a bit bland. They sealed each tub with plastic which was also quite difficult to get off! Not sure I'd call them again.

Colette

bland? really? I'm quite surprised. Mine wasn't bland at all, and I hate bland food. I guess it depends what kind of curry you were expecting in the first place though.

matt

Bland? What did you order? It would help future decisions if you let fellow sg'ers know... Our last was far from bland - we tried the tandoori paneer (thanks colette) and and their veggie balti which were really tangy and flavoursome. We cooked our own rice and everything was still hot by then. I ordered and waited for mine in person, just because I wanted to watch them cook it. Never seen anything quite like that before. Very cool! They use the same container sealing technique as the much lauded (on here at least) Tiffin Tin. For reference, it's much easier to cut into the lid with a sharp knife than attempt to tear it off (it's not meant to be). To those that are disappointed, apologies for building your hopes. However, it's still my favourite local curry. Ali, which Indian do you mean up form the Larrik? The black fronted one (worst lamb I have ever had from this one) or Spice Zone (super hot dhansak caught me out but I will return)?

David

Spinach & spuds with ginger and something else (can't remember the name) was really tasty last night as was the lamb rogan and daals - fresh ingredients and not bland at all. The spices were aromatic rather than burn your tongue, which I know one or two friends of mine translate as bland? Or perhaps just those particular dishes.

berrynice

We had a takeaway from Dinner Box on the first night after it opened. As it is my closest curry house by far, I was inclined to like it in any case (being able to go across the road in your slippers for a takeaway is something to be happy about) - but it was great - tasty and fresh... We tried the shahi lamb shank, murg palak and shahi baygan. All lovely. We will be going back (and would be even if it wasn't directly across the road)! And the people running it are very nice (although the girls on the counter seemed to have problems working the till).

Don't Look Now

I've just finished a takeaway from there. Well, not finished, most will be going in the bin! Very bland, and unpleasantly rancid.

Ali

We had Murg Korma, Lamb Rogan and Aloo Palak. The spinach and Potatoes (Sag Aloo equivalent) was very good. Will give it another go which different choice of dishes.

The one a I meant near to the Larrik is the black fronted one. It is very variable sometime good others not great at all.

unaesthetic

we just got a delivery from there and couldn't disagree with clare more. really fresh, mild but flavourful - far from bland! i'm usually a total spice junky, but i don't mind it when mild food is this tasty!

it's not perfect - some of the stuff was a bit oily, the parathas weren't brilliant - but i'd certainly get a delivery from hem again!

charis

Has anyone tried The Red Chilli? Got it a fair few times as a delivery, and every time been really impressed.Think it was under new management the first time we got it (couple of months ago) as the guy on the phone was raving about it lol

Donna

Re: what did we have? I had a chicken tikka Massala and my other half had a chicken chilli massala. He thought his was OK, nothing special, and I felt the same. I've just asked him and he says "Ah, but I'm very fussy about my curries, make sure you put that." I'm not so fussy but then again chicken tikka massala is probably the most bland dish you can get so maybe it's my own fault.

matt

Haha! At least you're honest.

Don't Look Now

Mild I can live with, but tasting strongly of rancid oil is really off-putting.

rainbow_carnage

Clare, what did you have?

We got the vegetable rajasthani, which was pretty good. The vegetables were obviously fresh. We also had a few of the veggie side dishes. The daal wasn't as good as Jai Krishna's, but still very edible.

The only really disappointing thing was the paratha, which was stodgy and cold.

I wish we had a Sagar nearby. Whenever we go to the Lyric in Hammersmith, we have Sagar for dinner. I love their spicy-potato-in-a-crispy-pancake dish (can't remember what it's called). I really should make an effort and go down to the Warren St branch more often.

Colette

Sounds like a masala dosa to me, Rainbow carnage. Dosas make my top-10 favourite foods.

Don't Look Now

I had spicy potato cake thingies with tamarind sauce for starter (don't have menu, so can't remember what they're called), and a lamb curry. The lamb was nice and tender, but everything was spoiled by the nasty after-taste.

I'll give it another try, as most people seem to like it, but not before I've had a big bag of aubergine bhaji's with tamarind sauce from Jai Krishna, to make up for the disappointment :)

underscore_cue

if I had my way the new development would have a branch of chennai dosa

Ewan

I liked the look of the menu and the name however....

local curries do not get any better than Neyas

www.neyas.co.uk

it is based in scummy crouch end which is its only flaw

matt

had the Himalayan Lamb the other night - very tasty but a tad oily. I'll mention it to them next time I go in. Hopefully it was just an oversight as they were very busy at the time.

Beek

Agree their paneer is sublime, and the free popadoms and mango chutters are a nice touch but that's about it. Tarka dal was made with mashed up tiny chickpeas (not lentils) and had no discernable spice or seasoning, virtually a pease pudding. And I wouldn't recommend their spicy popadoms - they were simply cooked by grilling - no oil used, so no puffing up and frankly I could do better myself with a pan and a spot of oil. JK all the way.

Colette

Tarka dal should be made partly with split peas or chana dal (chickpeas), not just lentils, so what they've done isn't wrong. Having said that, I agree that it was a little on the bland side for my taste, and JK's version is superior...

onion

Tempting menu, but wasn't particularly impressed by the takeaway. Gandaki squid was awful - Gandaki clearly translates as 'birdseye breadcrumbed soggy squid without spices'. The rest was just OK. Vegetable samosas were refreshingly non-greasy, but bland, as was the prawn pathia. Special murg kebab, described as chicken marinated with spices cooked in tandoor, was in fact tubes of minced chicken upon a bed of fried onions - not sure where the spices got to. However it was probably a busy night for them and maybe the food is better in the restaurant itself?

David

I embraced this recent flourish of Indian takeaways and being carnivore enjoyed trying out a few lamb curries but when all said and done, despite loving a piece of meat in my Indian takeaway, I've reverted to JK. For me at least, the food is cleaner with better flavour than any of the newcomers.