Lamb-Chop-Grilling, East-End-Filling

Many of our London based followers may have already been to the long running, Lamb-Chop-Grilling, East-End-Filling, Punjabi restaurant that is Tayyabs. However the OCC had not, and it was about time we marched through the busy streets of Whitechapel to find out what all the hype was about. As expected, the place was very busy, however our 7:30 booking was early enough to secure us a large table in the corner of one of the four floors (the place is HUGE). We worked our way through the Labyrinth of tables, and without us even asking, were sat down along with our poppadoms. They were however probably the worst part of the meal, scoring the lowest number of points this year in our “Top of the Pops” chart. The manager of our section asked if we were ready to order, but unfortunately after 25 minutes we hadn’t actually been given any menus! When we had finally decided, rather than jotting it down on a notepad, he committed it all to his memory (8 starters, 8 mains, sides, naans and rice - Impressive). It was also suggested by the chairman (without swaying) that everyone should try a lamb chop along with their starter. They are a must for any punter at Tayyabs, with some of the most intense seasoning and spices that you’ll find in the UK. Truly sublime. The starters were served on huge sizzling platters altogether, slightly annoying as we then had to figure out who had how many of what, but it certainly helped with the speed of service, which was borderline frantic throughout. We also had our first new trialist for a while, MVP Mark, who successfully gained entry to the OCC with a fantastic speech about his curry past. We all listened intently whilst sipping all of our beers and gin (Tayyabs is BYOB, with no corkage charge) which geared us up for the main course which we were all very excited for. By this point, all of the tables were full and the place was absolutely buzzing! Think of it as a nightclub for curries, The Ministry of Saag, if you will. Unfortunately, and this is reflected in the quality score, the mains were not memorable at all. Portion sizes were decent enough but it lacked the depth of flavour that we have come to expect as standard. Even the vast amounts of booze we had consumed were not enough to bring this mark up. There was also some confusion on what naans/rice we had ordered, although in fairness these issues were resolved swiftly by the army of waiters they have roaming the floors. But, if i’m being completely honest, I don’t go to Tayyabs for the finest curry there is on offer. I go to Tayyabs for 3 things… Great value, fantastic atmosphere, and the juiciest lamb chops in London. Tayyabs delivered spectacularly on all 3 accounts, and its no wonder why people are drawn back time and time again. Scores: Customer Care - 6.14 Service - 7.71 Value - 7.57 Quality - 6.53 Atmosphere - 8.71 Overall - 7.33/10