Date of Visit 1st Feb (also went again on 3 April)
If you have been following me then you know one of my favourite restaurants is Hankies Cafe, who serve up Indian small plates and street food dishes. So when I heard of a similar and unrelated place opening up in Soho I was excited to visit.
Located inside the courthouse hotel, Soho Wala is a contemporary take on Indian street food and other classics. The menu has over 30 items separated into different categories like Small Plates, Kathi Rolls, Grills, Specials and curries.
I have to be honest the vast amount of items made it hard to narrow down what to order however our server was helpful in some recommendations.
Here’s what I got
I tried to get a mix of street food and grill items.
Mirchi Matchstick Chicken £4.50
My favourite thing on the menu and one of my favourite things I’ve eaten this year. Yes it’s just fried chicken, but I’ve never had it like this before, Indian spiced flavour and match stick style chicken wings, highly recommend.
Kheema Pao, Spiced minced lamb cooked with green peas £7
Kurkure Bhaji , crispy lotus root and okra £4.70
Similar to the okra fries from Dishoom, this deep-fried dish was actually light and tasty with great flavours and textures.
Pani Puri Wala, crispy wheat shells, infused chilled tamarind flavoured water £4.95
The filling wasn’t the most flavourful I’ve had, I found it a bit weak in taste.
Papdi Chaat, Sweet yoghurt, mint, tamarind and wheat crispy £4.50
I love chaat, I get it whenever I see it on a menu, this was good and had a good balance of flavours, but I would have preferred a little more sweetness.
Gilafi Kebab, lamb mince, mint, coriander and homemade garam masala £8.50
I wasn’t too keen on this one, slightly overcooked and I didn’t like the flavours of the spices.
Lucknow Murgh Biryani, The Soho Wala variation on the legendary Lucknow special, with mint and cilantro £9.95
Chooza Makhani, Derbyshire redcap chargrilled chicken, fenugreek, tomato and butter £9.50
Chargrilled chicken cooked into a curry sauce, it’s basically a butter chicken. It was good but not the best I’ve had for me it lacked depth in flavour and needed a touch of a sweeter element to it.
I think if you go here, you should focus on the street food and small plates, I wasn’t a fan of the curries, however having only trying only 20% of the menu it’s not fair to make such an assumption.
I think the value for the small plates when you factor in the location and venue is amazing with a lot of items under £5
The decor is open, spacious and colourful with nice natural lighting from bay windows that look out onto the Soho entrance of Carnaby street and liberty. Our server (Indian Guy) was friendly and helped with suggestions for what to order.
Prices listed are correct as of the date of the post, Prices were cheaper when I visited
