Kricket Soho — Restaurant in London

Recently visited Kricket for my friend's birthday. She found this place online. Very easy to find in the heart of town, around the corner from Piccadilly Circus, you walk down Shaftesbury Ave and when you see Mc Donald's there is fork with the two side streets, take the left hand side one and you reach Kricket within 2 mins.

Upon first glance it looks unassuming, it's bar style service upstairs, we were welcomed and seen to straight away, taken to our table downstairs. It's quite small and compact with bench style/long tables but we had a booth style table in the corner.

Service was attentive, we can't fault that, they were patient whilst we waited for others to arrive.

Upon first glance, the first thing that caught my eye is that the menu is very limited, both food and drinks so you have to be sure that you like/enjoy Indian food as well as whoever is accompanying you.

My only gripe about the menu is that we didn't know what some of the menu items were as it wasn't obvious so it would have been nice to have some descriptive blurb underneath as to what the item of food was an ingredients so it could be a bit clearer. My friend used google so we discovered the Garlic and Coriander Kulcha was actually Naan bread. Jeera Pulao was the rice they serve as a side dish which you have to order separately.

For starter's my friend ordered the Tomato rasam pani puri and said it was very tangy. A strong taste of onion and garlic. She said if you had any sinus issues, it would clear it immediately lol. I had the Mutton Seekh Kebab which I felt was a bit pricey but sounded delicious. It was chunky, juicy and full of flavour. Accompanied with the onions and raita it was absolutely delicious and cooked to perfection.

Mains, we all chose the Mangalorean Chicken Gassi curry with a side of Jeera Pulao (Rice) and all had a Garlic and Coriander Kulcha. The curry and rice were decent portions, flavourful and aromatic. Luckily our waitress warned us the decorative items on top were chillis not to be consumed. The Garlic and Coriander Kulcha (Naan bread) was absolutely delicious. The best garlic naan I've ever had. If it wasn't for the price I would have ordered another one. If you love garlic, then this is a must have. I was amazed by the bright green vivid sauce that adorned the bread and devoured it within seconds.

Drinks - I had the Fresh Lime Soda (Sweet), it was nice and refreshing. Subtle taste. My friend had the Colaba Cane cocktail which I tried and was VERY STRONG. But then I'm not a strong alcohol drinker so each to their own.

Only small shock we got was what we thought was complimentary water, was added to our bill as a £1 charity donation for BELU? Nothing was mentioned. It is minor and a very small amount but it would have been nice for a waiter/tress to be transparent about this as normally table/tap water is free.

We didn't have dessert. For three people our bill came to £130 including service charge. Overall nice ambience, a tad bit dark, I felt the lighting could be a little brighter but that is trivial. Overall the food was very good, we had a lovely evening.

Bit pricey but very good quality food.

(Waiter with the curly...

The food at Kricket Soho was delicious with great flavours. Nothing was too spicy but all the food was nicely spiced. Unique menu of modern Indian dishes such as the Sampfire Pakora as well as some classics like Pani Puri and Dhaal.

The staff were friendly and knowledgeable but it was disappointing to have to ask the staff to bring spoons on numerous occasions for us to be able to serve our food onto our plates. Especially as the waiting staff had introduced the food to us as sharing dishes.

Our group was made up of a family of 3 (with a 6 year old child) and a couple. We were each given cutlery (spoon, knife and a fork each) but we ordered around 9 dishes needing spoons to serve our food. Rice, dhaal, etc which you can’t use hands to serve out. Such a small thing but I would think it would be common sense to provide the table with spoons for at least main courses and the dessert. They brought out my sons ice cream in a bowl with no spoon! I noticed no other table were given serving spoons either and the table next to us spent a few minutes waiting for additional spoons to be brought out after they requested them. I brought this up with the waiting staff when he asked how our meals were. I was told that they were short on staff today and then also that the kitchen doesn’t have too many spoons to give all the tables additional to what is placed at each diners setting… (maybe invest in more spoons??)

We ordered my son’s food from the kids menu. The food itself was plentiful and delicious, the same level of flavour as the the food from the adult menu however served on the tiniest of plates and with the largest cuts of chicken for the butter chicken meal. Either a larger plate or smaller cuts of chicken in the curry would be more suitable for the dexterity of a small child. Needless to say there was a lot of rice and sauce on the table around him.

We had asked for son’s dessert to come out as we were still finishing our mains. When the table was cleared, the bill was brought to our table immediately afterwards. We weren’t asked if we wanted to see the dessert menu or if we wanted additional drinks. We still had just over 30 minutes left on the table booking.

In summary the food tasted great but the service should have been better, especially...

Definitely a must visit in London! Heard this place is Indian vegetarian friendly, so had to check it out (turned up veg friendly, though not an authentic Indian cuisine - more like sophisticated Indian styled dishes). Came at opening time (about 17:15) so could choose whatever place I want to sit in (chose the bar). 20 min later the place was completely full. The dishes are of medium size, and ordering about 5 dishes for 2 people could be just fine. Veg: Bhel Puri - some kind of green colored crunchy rice with yoghurt on top with mango sauce - an absolute stunner! Tomatoes - over yoghurt spread topped with some delicious sauce (what is it???) - a small dish though the sauce they put on it just makes me want to eat it again. Rice - basically just rice... depends on how you like your food - I will not order it again. Butternut Squash - a few squash pieces in a big bowl with lots of sauce to eat it with. Masala Kulcha (naan) - though not a true veg meal in my opinion since they make it in the same oven they cook meat in it, a must have side dish. There are just too many dishes that comes with some gravy, which makes the naan an inevitable dish. Meat: Tandoori Methi Lamb - a few pieces of lamb neck seasoned generously with some veg stew topped with yogurt. Enjoyed it very much! Desert: Chocolate Radbi - chocolate mousse with mini cookies - a good one. Beer: Pale Ale, Partizan Brewery - Just love the variety of beers in London! Another great Pale Ale!

Would definitely come back in my next...