The Rajdoot — Restaurant in London

First of all, I'd like to apologise to Rumen and his brothers for writing this review a little late, being the wonderful experience dated back to July.

I first discovered Rajdoot over three years ago, when my parents were visiting London. Needless to say, we loved it and were particularly impressed, not only by the greatness of the food, but also by the friendliness of the family who runs it. We visited it another couple of times during the years and I personally dined there a few other times, often taking friends with me. It is one of my favourite restaurants in London for sure.

In July my parents were visiting with another family from Italy and we obviously wanted to take them to Rajdoot. When we entered the restaurant my father asked for Rumen (with whom he had had a really nice chat before), but unfortunately he was in the new branch in Hampstead. Shortly after we had been seated, the lights went off, there was a massive power-cut in the whole neighbourhood! We had no problems with it and were patiently waiting in the dark, when the staff offered to take us to the new Hampstead restaurant with their cars, as they were not sure how long it would take to get the electricity back. This very kind offer left us speechless.

After a lovely drive through North London (I was driven by Mohammed, one of brothers, another kind and caring person), we were welcomed by the staff at the new restaurant, they were informed about the 'misadventure' and made us feel very comfortable. Now, I have a thing for the coziness of the original Rajdoot, I like its very tight space and tables so close one to the other that you always end up speaking with your neighbour. However the newer Rajdoot is an upgrade. The spaces are bigger and the overall design is very elegant and traditional at the same time. After taking a seat, we were informed that Rumen had heard 'someone was looking for him' and was on his way to the restaurant. We were then offered some special papadoms on the house!

We ordered a Joypuri Murug, a Khana Ke Passand, a Lamb Biryani and a Lamb Saag, plus some naans and rice. I knew the dishes already and it's always a heaven in your mouth, every single time. I might be overreacting, but I still have to find an Indian restaurant which gives me the same flavours and meat quality (and I live close to Brick Lane, so I tried quite a lot of Indian restaurants).

At one point, Rumen showed up and words can't describe how happy he was to see us. He remembered my family, especially my father, and was honoured to see us coming back to his restaurant. He looked as charming as we remembered and treated us the best possible way. He couldn't stop thanking us for giving him the best satisfaction as a restaurant owner, at one point he sat and chatted with us, he offered us some drinks after dinner and finally offered to take us back to Paddington. At that point, we felt that was too much, we really didn't want to disturb him any further and were honestly happy to walk to Belsize Park station. He understood and insisted to just walk us until the end of the road so he could show us the best way to Belsize Park. Words really aren't enough to describe the magic of that night, the way we were treated and the grand class of Rajdoot. I've lived in London for a good number of years and have never had a better experience at a restaurant than in Rajdoot. My parents promised Rumen to come back again very soon and we obviously can't wait. In the meantime I'll be coming to the Hampstead branch very often.

Once again, thanks to Rumen, Mohammed and the other brothers for this...

I came across Rajdoot with my wife 4 months ago, where we were looking for some takeaway food. As we passed in the front, very charismatically we were invited to have a look at the menu and try. "All the food is made fresh!" they told us the right way in the 1st time and they keep reminding us of this time after time as we passed there to grab food again, this because the food is so good and of amazing quality that we felt like coming back a couple of time. As we met and talked with 2 of the owner brothers we got to understand that this family restaurant is of very high-quality cuisine in London with very good prices on each item of the menu. So we went back there over and over again, the service was always very good, the food, desserts and they are very open to giving you some discount on the final tab as we always ordered more then we could eat I guess AHAH. After 2 months we have decided to do our marriage lunch there and was lovely, everything very clean and very good service once again, they even helped us take some pictures! And by the end of the meal for 12 guests, we have found out that all the food was made by only 2 people, the chef, and the assistant of the chef. They seem to have very good team management as everyone is always with a smile while serving and are very receptive to helping however they can. Indeed one of the best North Indian cuisine restaurants we have ever...

3 stars? 4 stars? 5? Tricky.

I’ve only been once, but there were four of us, and we all tasted all the dishes. All of them were good or very good. We chose mostly “classic” dishes and found them, along with the sides, tasted just right. Quantities were copious, in all cases. So, good, or very good, without having anything “excellent”. So, how many stars?

The restaurant itself is small, bright, modern and clean – with a few tables on the pavement outside too. A nice environment – but not outstanding in character or atmosphere. So, how many stars?

Service was nice too. Reasonably quick – not too fast – friendly, and free of errors. And the presentation of the food was OK, nothing unduly fancy, nothing “haute cuisine”, just neatly served in dishes. Which is fine. So…

What really swings this is the price point. We did not spend a lot, despite ordering a plentiful amount of food. We felt it was all good value, and I’ll be happy to go back. So, on the basis principally of value for...