Drunken Monkey * (Awful)

Shoreditch is a place that oozes cool with a lot of interesting, lively bars with outrageous decor and some quaint restaurants with character and style. It’s also home to some of London’s best Vietnamese restaurants.

However don’t be fooled by the name, Drunken Monkey is anything but cool or quaint. In fact this bar cum eatery was a massive disappointment and neither had an interesting interior nor served food worthy of mention.

This place serves dimsum the only caveat being it is overpriced and incredibly ordinary. For example the Malaysian steamed bun was harder than I expected and the lettuce parcels were virtually tasteless although were far more expensive than other similar dishes at far better restaurants.

However food quality can occasionally be improved by friendly banter with staff although if you go to Drunken Monkey you’ll find it very hard to get the attention of the staff let alone hold a conversation with them. The staff take cool to another level so much so that they are rude and apathetic.

I would not recommend Drunken Monkey for dining however if you happen to be drunk already and in the area then it is a perfectly laudable place to have a drink. There are far better places to eat in Shoreditch than this dive. I would rate this place 1 out of 5.

Lahore Kebab House ****

Lahore Kebab is now something of an institution having been around now for almost 40 years in the same street in East London in the same building in Umberston Street.

Whilst the area has changed and become more cosmopolitan and Lahore Kebab House's building has expanded to the next floor, the food is as good now as it always has been. This is Pakistani cuisine at its best.

Particularly good dishes include the range of Karahi dishes as well as the starters, particularly the lamb chops which are prepared to a strictly guarded recipe that not even the other branches of Lahore Kebab House know about. To try them is to know why the recipe is so treasured. The biriyani however is less good and the nihari pales in comparison to Tayyabs.

The atmosphere is relaxed, informal and the threadbare decor suggests that this place is not about the dining experience but the dining itself. Each dish will more than amply compensate for the basic interior of the restaurant. The service is also rapid and the longest you can expect to wait for food is 10 minutes.

Its clientele is also mixed ranging from suited City types to families, couples as well as large groups. The noise level is therefore at times excessive and expect to queue outside for up to 20 minutes at peak times on Friday and Saturday evenings.

I've been here more times now than I can remember and each time the meal has come to no more than £15 per head including service. The restaurant also operate a BYOB policy with no corkage charges.

Lahore Kebab House is informal, loud, brash, tasty and dirt cheap. I'd rate it 4 out of 5 and I'll probably end up there again at some point in the near future.

http://www.lahorekebabhouse.com