First thing you would notice when you go into Barburchi is the deco, which is pretty outstanding with nice lighting and good use of the narrowly shaped restaurant. The service was ok, nothing spectacular, as the waiters did not seem too over-friendly nor unfriendly.
I was particularly amused at the prices on the menu considering the fact that Leytonstone is one of those East London towns where value for money is definately something shop-owners concentrate on to beat the competition. For a standard dinner set with drink I was looking at £15-25 (per head), this would include 1 rice, 1 curry, 1 nan and a bottle of beer. Next door you could have a meal for 2 for that price.
By this point of the review, you probably think I'm a scrooge or something, but I just believe in value for money. If a restaurants meal, service and atmosphere all went nicely then I wouldn't mind taking/prying out 100 quid from my wallet (even though a few flies would flutter out first). BUT, the food was very average. I had the Rogan Josh which was in a very small portion (just less than a handful) and all my collegues dishes were a similar size. Taste-wise, they got all the flavours right, but I've definately had better for cheaper elsewhere.
All in all, I feel that Barburchi probably belongs in the City of London where the richer people could pay more for less and probably still write good reviews for it. read more