The Tamil Crown, Islington, London desi pub review

I've said it before but I’m a huge fan of desi pubs. After all, delicious Indian food and well-kept beers are a match made in heaven.

Tap and Tandoor in Solihull and the Soho Tavern in Gateshead are both places where we've eaten and drunk very well on our travels. 

On our most recent trip to London, we managed to squeeze in a visit to The Tamil Crown in Islington. Whilst it stretches the definition of a pub as most of its space dedicated to restaurant dining, there’s still room for a few people at the bar to enjoy a pint alongside an onion bhaji or two.

Owned by former Roti King executive chef Prince Durairaj and ex-Market Halls general manager Glen Leeson, the Tamil Crown is currently ranked as the 35th best gastropub in the UK in the ever reliable Top 50 Gastropubs list. Alongside its stablemates The Tamil Prince and Tamila, the Tamil Crown leans towards Southern Indian cooking, as that’s where Durairaj hails from.

We weren't drinking after a craft beer holiday in Tallinn but I think it’s fair to say that the Tamil Crown’s beer selection isn’t the most inspiring, especially when there are London breweries on its doorstep like The Kernel and Pressure Drop. Harbour’s Beach Party Pale Ale (£8 a pint) and Purity Session IPA (£8) are about as exciting as it gets. Instead, I enjoyed a bready alcohol free Lucky Saint lager (£6.50) and Mrs G saw off a fruity and fragrant Desi Spritz alcohol free cocktail (£11.50).

Snacks kicked off the meal, and okra fries (£9) were probably the best I've ever eaten. Hyper crisp and grease free, their potently spiced batter surrounded thin fronds of vegetable.

Beef masala uttapam (£12.50) was the standout dish of the meal. A light and crisp rice flour pancake was topped with slow-cooked, headily spiced shreds of beef which had been fried to a golden crisp on their surface. It was joined by a creamy and fiery coconut chutney.

Finally, a gorgeously juicy and crisp-skinned lime leaf scented chicken thigh (£13.50) was delicious dunked in a pot of fresh and fruity pineapple chutney. It had lux Greggs mango chicken oval bite vibes, and I was fully sold.

Onto mains, and the other standout dish of the meal was a corker of an aubergine curry (£13.50) with soft and sticky chunks of the meaty vegetable and long cooked sweet onions. It was a rich, deeply spiced and decadent curry.

A Chettinad lamb curry (£16) had a well-spiced and meaty gravy and a decent amount of soft and tender pieces of meat. But it was no better than similar dishes I’ve eaten at Cardiff’s myriad excellent southern Indian restaurants.

On the carb front, coconut cream was stirred through pilau rice (£6.50) to give it a sticky rice-like decadence. Its creaminess also worked exceptionally well to balance the punchy spicing of the other dishes.

A good roti (£4.50) was light and elastic, but it didn’t quite live up to the exemplars at Roti King – it just wasn’t as flaky or crisp.

With its combination of big-flavoured southern Indian cooking in a laid-back pub setting, we had an excellent meal at the Tamil Crown. I can see why it’s a contemporary London desi pub success story. 

The Details:

Address - The Tamil Crown, 16 Elia Street, London N1 8DE

Web - https://www.thetamilcrown.com/

Telephone - 020 3342 0709

Three Flames, Cathays, Cardiff, Nashville hot chicken takeaway review

We very rarely eat takeaway anymore. In part, it’s because we enjoy the whole experience of visiting a restaurant. The dining room, the service, and the ambience, all add to the sense of occasion. The day that going out for a meal stops feeling like a special treat is the day that I give up writing this blog. 

The other reason is because takeaway food quality is inevitably compromised on its journey from a restaurant kitchen to a punter’s home. Especially things that are supposed to be crisp, which quickly become soggy whilst steaming away in a takeaway container. I like to eat a food business's food as it's supposed to be be rather than after its been sat on the back of a delivery bike for half an hour. 

Which brings me to Three Flames, a recently opened Nashville hot chicken takeaway joint that’s located down a back lane in Cardiff's Cathays area. Whilst there’s no way you’d ever stumble across it and their passing trade must be non-existent, you can be rest assured that I’m not going to describe it as a covert trinket, stealth sparkler or some other insufferable cliché.

Having used Google Maps to track them down to their home in what looks like a converted garage at the back of 98 Crwys Road, I was mightily impressed to find a crowd of people waiting for orders at 8.30pm on a Sunday evening. 

Specialising in Nashville hot chicken, Three Flames’s menu comprises of sandwiches, sliders, wraps and loaded fries, all of which are available in a variety of heat options ranging from Spark (mild) to 3rd Degree (extreme). If hot chicken isn’t your thing, then they also offer a selection of beef burgers and a veggie option too. 

I'd preordered my meal on Three Flames’s website, which allows you to live track your meal, and was looking forward to waltzing to the front of the queue to collect my dinner. However, when I arrived on time, the tracker showed that my order had already been collected, and I then had another 10 minutes to wait for it to be cooked. The friendly front of house team was very apologetic but there’s not much point in whizzy technology if it doesn’t work. 

As I was ravenous, and a little bit tipsy, I decamped to the nearest street corner to eat my dinner within a few minutes of it being cooked. 

My Nashville sando (£10.99 including fries and dip) saw a run of the mill toasted St Pierre brioche bun overflowing at the edges with a colossal and supremely juicy buttermilk marinated chicken thigh that was coated in an uber-crisp gnarly crumb and topped with creamy slaw and cleansing pickles. I’d opted for the mild spice level, and it delivered a big hit of flavour with just a delicate kick of heat. 

Served on the side was a mound of exemplary spice dusted crinkle cut chips, and a pot of tangy, creamy and spice-twanged Flamer Fuel dip. 

Even taking into account the unremarkable bun, this was a first-rate fried chicken sandwich meal.

On a second visit during the middle of the week, I had no such issues with the pre-order technology. In fact, quite the opposite as when I arrived a few minutes before my allotted collection slot, my meal was already sat waiting for me. I’m not sure for how long. 

By the time I’d made the 10-minute walk to Roath Park to guzzle my dinner on a park bench, the condition of my chicken tender meal (£9.99 including fries and dip) was somewhat compromised. 

Whilst the pair of mahoosive chicken breast tenders had thankfully retained their heat, tenderness, and crispness, the crumb coating started to fall away when I picked it up. They were sat on a token slice of toasted brioche that was a little bit too sweet for the job – cheap white sliced bread is clearly used in most Nashville hot chicken joints for a reason. 

Whilst the chicken had held up pretty well on its journey to the park bench, the same couldn’t be said for the pile of crinkle cut chips that were sadly tepid and limp.

This time around, I’d ordered my chicken at a medium heat level and whilst it was full of flavour, it was still pretty mild, even in comparison to mild Nashville chicken heat levels that I’ve had elsewhere. I’d certainly go hotter next time. 

An accompanying pot of ranch dip was pleasingly creamy and tangy – it was an ideal foil for all that spicy deep-fried stuff. 

So, what can I say about Three Flames? At its best and when consumed immediately, they serve generous portions of cracking value, top notch Nashville hot chicken. However, after ten minutes sat in a takeaway container, it’s a much more mediocre experience. 

But, I guess that’s the inevitable challenge for a business that operates exclusively as a takeaway. Unless you’re planning on eating your dinner in your car or on a street corner, then it’s unlikely that you’ll be tasting Three Flames at their very best, which would be a shame as their very best is very good indeed. 

The Details:

Address - Three Flames, Rear of 98 Crwys Road, Cardiff CF24 4NQ
Web - https://threeflames.uk/
Telephone - 029 2297 4007