Hungered after an afternoon researching at the NPG I met the old boy in the Bricklayers (excellent pub with an excellent dog) where we plotted to go for an Indian. But which one? The Motijheel is long behind us, as is the India Club alas, so our usual haunts were no longer available. The answer to our problem was staring us in the face! Barely a minute’s walk away was the Palms of Goa on Charlotte Street, clinging on in the face of flashy makeovers on a half-mile long stretch of restos.

The room is promising. Elbow to elbow tables, spick and span with everything simplicity itself. They have the usual range of curries on the menu with a few of their own as specials, and being Goan fish is the star. Up front we had an onion bhajia (v good) and a crusty potato grenade (yeah, I can’t remember what it was called) which also disappeared tout de suite. for main I had a chicken thing and James a browner lamb thing. This had excellent sauces where the spice was a slow burner rather than slapping you in the face. Being of the India Club style they didn’t have much veg with them so we missed a trick there. Rice and crispy buttery naan helped mop up the sauce and it was all very delicious washed down with a Kingfisher.

With genial (and swift) service this was the perfect local Indian experience at a very reasonable price for this area. Highly recommended.

8/10

To see where else I’ve been click on the google map below.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/embed?mid=18qCyiPZih_gzhGG8mwfacnNRWD3b0bo&ehbc=2E312F

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