Indian Zing

I can only say that this place has the attitude that is super cool, like an urban hipster drinking his craft beer surrounded by his meeja friends in an post-industrial chic, Dalston hang out. Sadly, it’s in the heartland of the Chelsea Tractor suburbia and done out like a 90s Living Room. Remember those? There were 5 of us for dinner, my parents, uncle and aunt. We were ushered to a table at the back rather unceremoniously so as not to disturb the “cool” and it went downhill from there. Three of us asked for the thali and we were told that they would take 25 minutes (!) to prepare. OK, we were warned, so we agreed. After 40 minutes, the food finally arrived for the entire table. Two of three of the thalis were stone cold. When this was pointed out, they argued that it wasn’t possible. They finally capitulated and sad that they would return it to the kitchen. I, at this point, expected them to go to the fresh pots of food and replace the cold elements. When we had been waiting for a further 10 minutes, I enquired as the whereabouts of our dinner and they told me that everything was being cooked again. They also expected me to swallow the idea that they cooked each tiny portion individually and that’s why it takes so long. I laughed, queried incredulously and finally had to swallow it due to lack of anything else of substance. If this is truly the case, this has to be the only Indian restaurant in London cooking this way. I have a good mind to send the chef in from Woodlands (who have perfect thalis) to give them a crash course. We finally got our meals and hour and a half after arriving. By which point I had gone past hungry. To add insult to injury the manager of the place was so supercilious I honestly believe that if my father was 10 years younger, he may have ended up with a bloody nose. He either spoke down to us, looked down his nose at us or made it plain that he really didn’t give a shit if we were happy or not. The bill came in with 3 beers and 2 glasses of wine along with our meals at almost £300, so it is incredibly expensive on the “Value for Money” scale. My parents are a 5-minute drive from this joint and I know that they have bad-mouthed it to everyone they know. I would say avoid it.

Amazing food and service.

Upmarket Indian Restaurant and high end food carefully prepared and presented. Could improve on range of wines.

It was special in its first year. Overcrowded, chaotic table arrangements (especially the overspill area), friendly but harassed waiters but all of that was forgiven by dishes that had a stand-out quality compared with other Indian restaurants, even those in the same street, which set a high standard. However, two further visits in subsequent years confirm my worst fear, that Zing was a flash in the pan and, once you take away the excellence of the cooking, the place just became an underwhelming and unrelaxing experience. It's not as if the food had shifted from stellar to ordinary; it descended into mediocre. Meanwhile the Anarkali, a few hundreds up the road on the opposite side, remains a traditional comfortable, inviting spacious Indian restaurant, the kind that can be found anywhere (you imagine it has flock wallcovering even though it doesn't) where the quality of the cooking has more than stood the test of time and the waiting staff are gentle and professional rather than overloaded with zing and disappearing up their own fundament.

I had a hearty meal, for which I paid almost £100 for myself only ! Following comments : Starter : Onion Bhaji – Very poor. I like my bhajis “fluffed-up”. Crispy on the outside & soft & voluminous inside. This one was compressed & hard. Very small portion Cheese Naan – Not cheesy at all. Not even warm & small portions again. Raita – Excellent. Probably the best I've tasted. Vindaloo side sauce – Not spicy at all. Tepid & uninspiring. Main Meal : NZ bottle of Pinot Noir – Disappointing. Overly acidic, too fruity & did not “open-up” as a Pinot Noir should. Cost almost £40 inc. service charge. King Prawn curry – 4 prawns served in (again) a tepid & uninspired sauce. Mushroom pilau rice – small portion & quit heavy, sticky & starchy. Mushroom bhaji – variety of mushrooms & quite good. Saag bhaji – Heavy, tasteless & uninspired. So, there you go. I am amazed at how divergent my experience was versus the hype. Don't believe the hype !This was a mediocre/nothing-special Indian (5 points i.e. would come again, if I could find nothing better) but so grossly over-priced (& over-hyped) that I have to mark it down to only 2 points only (i.e. avoid). Want a superlative curry ? Try Rajasthan II in the City. No rave reviews by the critics, but always full of punters (although, not cheap either, but absolutely worth it).

Very impressed after a first visit. Inventive, subtle food in a nice quite upscale room. Great lively atmosphere on the night I went. Good service. Was tempted but a little anxious to try indian wine and was not disappointed at all. The wine was amazing, very unusual, but perfectly paired with the food. The wine list is carefully and well constructed. I can't wait to go again.

We were a party of 15 on a Wednesday night: booked well in advance, pre ordered the menu to save time (and make it easier for service). They were told it was a 50th birthday special occasion, there would be elderly diners, and asked for a good place in the restaurant. Arrived 7 pm to fawning waiters – restaurant empty. Inital service was attentive with complimentary poppadums etc. but we were increasingly forgotten as the restaurant filled to bursting. We left almost four hours later. 15 people were squeezed into a table only adequate for 8. The table was in the far rear of the restaurant under an awning over what was clearly the back yard (called the conservatory!). The table top could barely accommodate the crockery and glasses let alone the food. Eating was an almost impossibility with elbows touching. The management of this restaurant has forgotten that a dining experience particularly at this price consists of both good food and comfort in equal measure. The food was good but not great, certainly nowhere near the quality I would have expected from the plaudits. Dishes were made with fresh spices and were potentially flavoursome but to our taste (6 of us are Indian) seem to have been significantly toned down, to their detriment (to suit the ‘british’ palate?). The flavour tones are subsequently too subtle; verging on bland especially when served tepid. (Too politely, I didn’t send back the Indian wine when I tasted it.). However we enjoyed the lobster and the smoked aubergine. The ‘signature’ dessert (masala bread pudding) tasted like bread pudding with a bit of spice in it and it was dominated by a large dollop of poor quality vanilla ice cream. As for the rest of the desserts, nothing of note. The portions were small served on large plates and so had high prices. The bill came to over £500 (excluding alcoholic drinks). I called to discuss the poor accommodation with the manager the following day. As I had not complained on the day there was nothing he could do. However, he did offer to do something special for me on my next visit. As if! If you are a large group, visit the restaurant first, ask where your table will be located, check that there will be enough elbow room for your diners, that they will be able to leave their place should they wish to use the bathroom, that there will be enough room on the table for the crockery, glasses, cutlery and food, insist that the food is served hot, don't order the Indian wine, avoid the desserts and everything will be fine.