Emni - Upper Street

Angel is a great spot for places to eat out, mainly for somewhere to fill your stomach from a range of cuisine at a decent price. Examples? Well, if you're after Indonesian/Vietnamese there's Bannana Tree Canteen on St John's Street, (the 5-spice chicken and chicken in sweet and sour lime sauce dishes are particularly yummy); or you could venture along Upper Street to stumble across independent restaurants like the quaint Le Mercury with their classic French menu.

But in between these two venues is where we make our stop, at Emni for a modern Indian delectable dinner.

I went for the Pasliyen Chops to start and Chicken Chattinad for the main. The lamb chops were incredibly tender and packed a punch from being marinated in ginger and star annis. They left my mouth tingling (in a good way) until my main arrived.

The Chicken Chattinad was milder but still full of flavour with cumin seeds, tamarind and cinnamon. The accompaniments like the lemon rice and Peshwari Naan were enough to share between two people and surprisingly not too heavy.

Other dishes my friends ordered were also tasty and equally good to look at!

King Prawn Cutlet

Malai Scallop

Doora Kebab

Tandoori Duck

This was a particularly pleasing visit as Emni participates in the Taste London offer of 50% off the final bill (of up to 4 people).

There were a few bad points, however, which I'd like to get out of the way.

• I didn't like the knives I'm afraid. A good knife should be balanced when holding it and these ones are bottom heavy with a bizarre twisty bit where you're meant to put your index finger. No need to favour design over practicality when it comes to cutlery!
  
• One of the main course dishes came late and was cold when it arrived.
• The waiter added a service charge for the original price of the bill rather than the discounted bill with the Taste London offer - so look out for that!

Despite these slightly irritating points, it was a lovely meal and one of the best Indian restaurants in the Islington area for quality and for value.