The Arena Club — Restaurant in London

What a place! Completely unsuspecting, given that it's just a door next to Hendon Central Underground Station. Even the name on the front doesn't specify that it's a bona fide curry house. The only thing that gives it away is the delicious smells that emanates from the premises.

I took my younger brother there to celebrate him completing his degree and we were both absolutely stunned with the service, the atmosphere and of course the food! I had the palak lamb and he had the chicken madras. Each bite was a deep explosion of fragrant flavour. I also bought a butter chicken for my partner at home. Her only complaint was that I didn't buy any rice for her! With all that we bought - 3 mains (one was takeaway), onion bhaji, pilau rice, two naans and about 4 pints - it came to just under 70 quid plus tip (tip not included), which is not bloody bad if you ask me!

The waiter that served us was very attentive, keeping our pints filled up and making sure we were enjoying our time there. There is also a pool table and a buzzing sports scene there too, though I did not get too involved in that as I was too taken by the food. Also, don't be deceived, while you do go below street level as you enter, it is not some sort of windowless basement. It actually backs onto the tube platform and you watch as the trains come and go - adding yet more intrigue to the already fantastic atmosphere. There's also an outdoor smoking area, away from the street if you're a smoker.

Another thing that deserves a mention is the dips they provide with the popadums. Of course there's a raita, but instead of the lime pickle - which is usually take it or leave it for me - they provide some sort of mild chilli sauce. My goodness! That was something really special. I would try to describe it but it wouldn't express how exciting the sauce is.

In fact, the sentiment of that last sentence could be applied to the entire experience! Do not waste time reading my review; go to The Arena and have a bloody...

This restaurant sports bar venue offers wonderfully cooked curries. There is an extensive menu showing a choice of vegetarian as well as fish, seafood, chicken & lamb dishes. All the curries are quite authentic & tasted delicious. We waited quite a long time for the mains, but I can say it was well worth the wait. These were the best curries I’ve tasted in Hendon for a long time. This is an Asian Sports Club, popular with the locals of all races. Everyone was friendly. No membership is required. The bar & restaurant service is friendly & the restaurant staff polite. The venue usually has live TV football & sports showing. Later in the evening it plays modern dance music, played a little too loud for my taste. I found it hard to have a conversation without speaking loudly. The venue is underground & the air quality can be poor when it’s busy, especially for anyone with breathing difficulties as I have. There is air conditioning, but the management, when asked was reluctant to turn it on. They opened a few windows instead, which helped a little. Interestingly the windows open onto the platform level of Hendon Central Tube Station. I would highly recommend this...

We called a day before the champions league final to book a table for 10 people, as we were getting married the morning of the final and wanted to go with a group of family and friends to watch the game after in the evening. They confirmed our booking so we thought everything was okay. During the day of the final the restaurant tried to contact us but we missed their calls as we were in the middle of celebrations but as soon as we could we contacted them to confirm we didn’t change our minds and we were all coming. Why would we change our mind if we book the day before? That is when they told us our booking was cancelled out of nowhere for no apparent reason an hour before the game. It was upsetting as we have been at the restaurant once before and the food was lovely. Still do not know what happened but it was very disappointing and stressful to find a place for 10 people...