Small Plates: £10-£14; Curries: £12-£23; Wines from £36
This new location for Oorja is at the bottom of Marylebone High Street, a little out of the way. We visited during their soft launch, which brought some teething issues. More about that later.
Curiously each diner is provided with a fabric apron to wear, to protect their clothes which was a bit of a novelty.
We had some popadoms when we arrived, and we have an issue with them. There were only three actual popadoms; the rest (majority) were star shaped piped "crisps". These reminded us slightly of an M&S packet of crisps with different shapes — although I'm sure they were made in house. Traditional popadoms from an Indian restaurant are wonderful things, thin and crispy, but although the sauces were great, this box wasn't really as good as that.
The food generally was lovely. My wife ordered the black daal, which she thought was amazingly tasty. The railway chicken curry that I had was also delicious. A particular shout out for the cheese and onion bhajis that we had as our starters — we're not sure that we ever had an onion bhaji with cheese, but it worked well. But as usual, they came in portions of three — most parties are two, which makes sharing them harder.
But onto the teething problems. The circular table at the top of the stairs that we were sat at, was too small for two to dine comfortably. When we arrived there were plenty of other tables for two free, and which remained free during our whole visit. We felt like being squeezed in as a "walk in", rather than for someone who had booked.
Service was attentive but not intrusive. Empty plates etc., were removed swiftly. The pacing of courses was also good; not too, fast or too slow.
Desserts weren't available, so no comments on that. Overall we'd recommend this place, and I hope it does well.
