Anyone coming to visit the Lahore Tikka House should read this review first:
First of all a lot of people keep saying in there reviews this place doesn't taste like authentic Indian food. And that is because it's not Indian its PAKISTANI cuisine so duh that's why. It's also halal so there is no liquor here either.
Secondly all food comes out family style and you are given styrofoam plates & cups, paper napkins and plastic cutlery to eat with, you are seated at long plastic folding tables on black plastic patio chairs - so if you have a problem with that than don''t come here.
Thirdly this place is ridiculously busy and usually has a lot of large families coming to dine - busy is a good thing meaning people keep coming back - if that's a problem for you either come during off times - do not come at prime time such as 5-7pm - or stay home
Fourthly yes your clothes and hair and everything will stink of spice after - it can be easily reversed by taking a shower/doing laundry or staying home - you decide
Fifthly the ordering process is a tad confusing for a first timer but very simple - see my review for details
On to my review...
My family of 5 came in on a Sunday afternoon around 4:30pm so the place was just starting to really get full. The host kindly greeted us when we came in and took us to a table right in the front beside the glass window. Since they weren't that busy yet he let us take over two tables. I was afraid sitting right beside the front door as it I thought I would feel cold but over top our table was the heat vent so were all nice and warm.
A waiter came over with menus shortly, took our drink orders and explained the ORDERING PROCESS:
Once you've decided what you want to order you go over to the cashier and place your order. Then the cashier will give you a table number to place on your table so servers know where to bring your food. After your initial order with the cashier, if you want to order anything else you can place it with your waiter. At the end of your meal you go back to the cashier and pay your full bill with her.
After returning to the table after placing our food order the waiter brought over are drinks - FYI they serve canned pop - He also brought us a jug of water, a stack of styrofoam plates & cups, paper napkins and plastic cutlery along with a little plate of salad and dressings.
After a 10-15 minute wait our food started to come out.
Everything came out very hot, fresh and delicious - you can steam coming off all of the food
Here's a run down of what we ordered:
Vegetable Samosa - thin crispy pastry packed full of potatoes and peas well seasoned
Lahori Beef Kabab - spicy ground beef formed kebab cooked in the tandoor
Tandoori Chicken Leg 1/4 pcs - Loved this very good juicy pieces of bone in chicken
Butter Chicken - very rich and creamy with chunks of white meat -another favourite
Chicken Biryani - asked for it extra spicy/hot and it was really hit the spot it flavours! Huge portion but our family of 5 devoured most of - also big chunks of chicken with bones and white meat
Aloo Gobi - my favourite vegetarian dish - huge pieces of cauliflower and potatoes great curry flavour
Channa Masala - another favourite vegetarian dish - nicely spiced and tender cooked masala chickpeas
Chicken Tikka Breast 5pcs - dry spiced cooked tender chicken morsels again really good
Garlic Naan - amazingly good - soo soft great garlic flavour and huge but don't under-estimate it - you'll need at minimum 1-2 per person
Overall every single dish we tasted we loved! Tips when ordering - if you like it spicy and food with heat tell the cashier when ordering to make the dish extra spicy/hot they will deliver. Yes things are on the greasy side however everything was soo rich in flavour and spice and soo fresh and hot it did not take away from anything. If your of the health conscious kind - again do not come then. Service was soo great, all the waiters were attentive and helpful asking us if we needed anything else. They even helped us wrap up our left overs.
After reading my review if you have no problems with any of the above I highly recommend you try it out because you will leave here overly satisfied!