I’m dying to try the new Indian restaurant, Chandani, in Roodebloem Road. The other night a couple of mates and myself decided last minute to go out for a curry. Out of sheer laziness we decided not to go to Woodstock but rather try one of the places in Seapoint. That’s how we ended up at Kabab Mahal.
In keeping with what seems to be a compulsory characteristic of Indian restaurants (except Masala Dosa), the decor is pretty bad. There is not much going on decor wise and the tables and chairs are made out of bamboo. They manage to create a hint of an Indian feel in the place, but that might have a lot to do with the smell of curry.
The menu offers curries and kababs, of which we only tried the curries. All the kababs are apparently dry (ie. they don’t have a sauce like a curry, I’m sure they are very moist). I had the Lamb Rogan Josh (R75) and asked them to make it hotter because I’m tired of eating curry for wimps. They did a good job which resulted in much tears and nose blowing, but it was very tasty. We also had a Lamb Vindaloo (R78) which was also tasty but not hotter than the souped up Rogan Josh. The other curry we tried was a Chicken Methi Malai (R65). It was not hot but a very tasty, creamy sauce. We shared a Basmati Steamed Rice (R20) and we tried a plain Naan (R12), a Garlic Naan (R14) and a Lachna Parantha (R12) which were all pretty good.
As you can see, the prices are not that cheap. It’s slightly cheaper than Bukhara, but it’s not as good as Bukhara. It’s slightly more expensive than Vintage India, but not much better. Unless you’re going for the Kababs, it might be better to pay a bit more and have a top notch experience at Bukhara or have a cheap meal at Vintage India.
We didn’t have wine, we chose a couple of cold beers instead. The service was fine, but the place wasn’t full so I wouldn’t have expected less. The tip was included in the bill, even though we were only a table of 3. I’ve decided my policy is that if they include the tip in the bill, that’s the tip they get. If they leave it to me to decide, I will usually give them more than 10%.
Kabab Mahal
315 Main Road, Seapoint
021 434 0008
Comments
4 responses to “Kabab Mahal review”
Sounds about the same as the Kabab Mahal in Tableview. Over priced for very average food,imho. If you want a proper UK style ring-sting curry try the Passage to India restaurant in Marine Circle. Mains are about R55 including rice.
One thing I did like about Kabab Mahal was the huge bib they give you (you can see it in the pics). I love bibs, you can eat with total peace of mind.
They also have bibs at Andiamo. The last time I went there I requested one and the waiter proceeded to tell me with more confidence than Donald Trump that they did not offer bibs and had never. This was after I told him that I had eaten there many times before and always received a bib. His lack of knowledge was easily explained by the fact that he had only been working there for a few days but his confident arguing was inexplicable. Luckily the manager came and saved me.
I thought bibs were left behind with dummies and potty training…….
You don’t know what you’re missing.