Darbar, the anti-nawaz. Why do I say this, because I can't help but get the opposite feeling from it as from the (probably overly vilified by me) Al-Nawaz near it on the mile. Another review on this site said that Darbar was the epitome of a standard curry mile restaurant. I'd have to agree, but while I called Al-Nawaz the standard disappointing mile curry house that is trading off the location, Darbar is the the standard one that fulfils expectations but not massively more, instead of leaving you cheated you feel satisfied. If there was a 3.5 star rating it would have got that, without a doubt. But anyway, enough talking about the overall rating, let's get down to details.
The decor, it's not bad. Just as clunky in places as others have said, but not distractingly so and the big mirrors at the back are fairly nice. OK, that was simple, onto more important matters.
The food. This is variable but by and large good. I shared a mixed grill starter that was excellent, and proved again that lamb chops are a tragically overlooked item on curry menus. The spicing was delicate and subtle, the flavours good and delicious. If everything had been like the starter, we'd have had no problems. The mains however were more variable. I had a lamb balti which was slightly...odd tasting and the lamb was a bit stringy (a friend of mine had a similar problem with her lamb) while others on the table claimed to have excellent beef and chicken curries. The naans were normal and the rice portions decent but not great (just about enough for two). Ultimately though the food wasn't half bad, and the amount of meat you got was very decent. So why the 3 stars and not the 4?
The service. My lord. I went in with 3 friends for a two course meal and must have spent a couple of hours from ordering to leaving. We waited over half an hour for our starters, and the same for our mains. There was a large party that came in shortly after us and this seemed to slow the kitchen down to a crawl and relegate our table to second place for everything. It threatened to turn an enjoyable meal into something of a trial, and had the conversation not flowed freely would have been a real problem.
The verdict? Darbar is a solid restaurant, and on a normal night with good service would probably safely fit in the 4 star category, but not on the night I went. Will I go again? No. The mile is a cut-throat place and even with better service Spicy Hut or even Mughli (which my friends from that part of the world seem to really rate) would beat it every time. Sorry Darbar, but the curry house no-one goes to won't be frequented by me. read more