Namaskar Lounge

Welsh Back,

Old City,

Bristol,

BS1 4RR

T: – 0117 929 8276

W: – http://www.namaskarlounge.com/

I’ve unintentionally been on a bit of an ‘all you can eat’ bender recently, what with the arrival of ZaZaBazaar and Namaskar Lounge in Bristol, but I can promise you I’m not normally quite so greedy. However, if the current trend for all you can eat restaurants continues in the city, and it lives up to the standard of our two latest arrivals, then I could be persuaded to make it more of a regular thing!

Namaskar Lounge sits in the Old City, opposite one of Bristol’s oldest pubs, the Llandoger Trow. It’s replaced the long forgotten student hangout Bar Med, and whilst the interior will look suspiciously familiar to those of us who remember going to college parties there, I can assure you that Namaskar Lounge is thankfully nothing like it.

We visited on a Friday lunch time, to make the most of their £6.95 Thali lunch offer (get down there quick though – this offer ends mid Feb), and despite the restaurant being probably one of the largest Indian’s in Bristol, it was encouragingly full.

The all you can eat Thali lunch offers a substantial variety for a lunch time option, without being so vast you feel the need to over–pile your plate; meaning I didn’t spend the afternoon feeling like I should have a nap under my desk. Whilst everything was good, the standout dishes were:

• Chicken Tikka – probably the star of the show. Generous chunks of deliciously moreish spicy chicken breast, which considering it wasn’t cooked to order, was surprisingly moist and tender.
• Lamb Karahi – one of my favourite curry dishes, and it didn’t disappoint. Like the chicken tikka, the meat was more than bite sized and perfectly cooked, and the sauce was thick, tasty and choc full of peppers and onions.
• Chaana Masala – usually served as a side, I could have eaten a plate of this spicy chickpea dish on its own.

Other dishes worth mentioning were the Chicken Jalfrezi and the vegetable samosas, both of which were worthy of a second helping, although in retrospect I’d avoid using the metal Thali dishes instead of a dinner plate, as everyone pointed out that they made the food go cold very quickly.

I don’t know if I’m alone in thinking this, but it seems that all you can eat places often sting you with drink prices and added extras so it was a really nice touch that when seating us, the waitress immediately brought over complimentary pickles and branded bottles of tap water. I’d also add that the assortment of vegetarian options was considerably better than your average restaurant, which is always a plus in my book.

Namaskar Lounge’s a la carte menu isn’t quite as extensive as you’d expect, considering the selection of dishes on offer at lunch, but it does offer a good range of Indian classics with some slightly more experimental looking chef’s specials. Prices are fairly average for the city centre, and I’ve heard glowing reports, not just from friends but from fellow food bloggers. It may be a little hidden away, but I’ll definitely be making the effort to go back and try the a la carte menu, and I have high hopes that it’ll live up to the great standards set at lunch!