Hotel Strand Continental

The India Club, tucked away on the second floor of the Hotel Strand Continental on London's Strand seems unprepossessing to say the least as you enter up some rickety stairs and on in to a smallish room with formica tables. It's bring your own, or pop down to the hotel bar below for alcohol, but for regulars from the nearby Indian high commission, the BBC World Service and many other banks and businesses nearby, this place is a favourite eatery. The old waiters seem to have been their since the days of the Raj, and the whole place has the feel of a bygone era. The food is delicious and freshly cooked. Mango lassis are smooth and juicy, and the ladies fingers and augbergines melt in your mouth and are silky smooth with oil and ghee. Lamb is also often good here and the rice and naans to soak it all up spot on.