Food review: Sheba Brick Lane
By Ben Kilbey
When you walk down Brick Lane, in the heart of London's East End, it's difficult to avoid the many hawks and touts trying to vie for your custom.
The smells and colours are overwhelming, and, indeed, it is easy to be hooked. It's also easy to pick a lame duck.
Still, follow with your nose and head deep down Brick Lane and you will discover a hidden gem in the form of Sheba.
The decor is modern with a plasma TV above the bar projecting Bollywood movies. The format works.
At first the restaurant looked sparse. We were the only diners in the long upstairs room - Sheba has a separate room downstairs which can be privately hired - but soon the numbers built and suddenly the place was rammed, with what head waiter Mr Khan said were a host of repeat customers.
After sinking a couple of pints of cold Cobra and snacking on a few poppadoms it was time to order.
Mr Khan recommended the Kebab ke Karishma (priced at £8.95) - a platter of meats to share.
The menu described this as "Kebab from mountainous region of north west frontier provinces of the subcontinent. Chicken, lamb, mince kofte kebab and grilled chop".
It was surrounded by a mountain of salad and served with two dips, one tamarind with coriander and another thick red paste made of sugar, mint and assorted spices.
The meat was cooked well, the chops especially, and the presentation was good. The portion was plenty for two.
Turning to the mains we decided on a seafood affair.
My companion opted for the sophisticated Lobster Bengal special - "king lobster marinated for several hours, slow grilled in clay oven then cooked in special recipe. Rice included" (£14.50).
Three good sized lobster tails sat under a mixture of vegetables in a limited sauce, although everything was well marinated.
The lobster could have done with a lot less cooking time as was almost mushy, yet remained tasty nevertheless.
The fact that the rice was included made the dish reasonably priced.
I opted for King prawn coriander (£12.50) cooked with aromatic spices and mustard, and a fairly hot green chilli yoghurt.
This dish was delicious. The prawns were cooked to perfection - plump and juicy.
The sauce was thick and scrumptious and the portion was hearty. I soaked it up with one of the best mushroom rices I have ever had and a beautifully cooked chapatti.
Sheba is definitely a cut above the rest. Mr Khan knows his food and chef Abdul Milad, with more than 20 years of experience, certainly knows how to cook it.
The portions were healthy, the atmosphere spot on.
This is a good Indian restaurant with a perfectly balanced menu.
Sheba Brick Lane
136 Brick Lane,
020 7247 7824
shebabricklane.com
To have a chance of winning a meal for two at Sheba click here
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Went to the restuarant on Saturday. Food was nice but service and the attitude of the staff were appauling. They invited us in off the street and made us fell like a nuisance as soon as we sat down. Would not return or recommend a visit there. As a regular diner in this area there are far nicer restuarant than Sheba on Brick Lane.
I visited Sheba at lunchtime on a Tuesday. There was a group of four of us, and for the most part we were the only customers. After waiting nearly 40 minutes for our meals, most of them were cold or barely warm, and the man who claimed to own the restaurant brought out the wrong main, meaning I had to wait an extra 15 minutes or so until I was able to eat. This seemed ridiculous seeing as we were the only customers in the restaurant. The waiter then went through to the kitchen, and had an argument with the chef – very loud, and off putting. The waiter after, seemed very wound up, and kept hovering around us, making us feel very uncomfortable, as we proceeded to eat what can only be described as very poor quality and bland food.
Never-the-less, we held our tongues about the poor service and the cold, unappetising food as we asked for the bill. What followed was simply unbelievable. The bill was alarmingly big, and much more expensive than anticipated. We asked for a menu, and we totalled up what each of us had ordered. This amount was significantly less than the number printed on the very confusing, and absurdly written bill. I then asked the waiter to go through the bill with us, because we couldn't understand what many of the items and prices were relating too. It seemed he'd added on all sorts of extra charged for things we hadn't asked for, nor had he expressed that there would be charges for (for example, tap water). We were baffled as to how he had charged us so much.
We tried to explain that we had calculated how much we should be paying, showing him the notes we had made on the receipt, at which point he ripped the receipt, snatching it from my hands, and started speaking to us in a very aggressive tone. Only to get more and more angry, rude and abusive. This resulted in him swearing at us, and calling us many a name, even though by this point another couple was sat in the restaurant and had to witness the whole thing. We left feeling very harassed and scared, having paid only the amount we should have, as the waiter hurled all sorts of abuse and obscene language at us from the other side of the restaurant.
I had wonderful experience at Sheba Restaurant , Brick Lane ; the range of specials I was given truly made my day . I Just didn’t know which special to have. But before the specials I started with a divine appetiser, King butterfly prawn it was called; a nice big prawn sprinkled with bread crumbs . This was followed by a magnificent Biriyani and I am big o f biriyani. So I ordered my favourite one Chicken Tikka Biriyani which truly enlightened my day . Had an excellent time.