Wow, this food is incredible! I flew in from the San Francisco area of the USA. The food was incredibly quick and delicious. It was far superior to what I had tried back home. The customer service was also excellent--attentive, quick, and friendly. I would definitely come back again. read more

My third visit here and consistently excellent each time. The restaurant is fairly small with a few seats in the front and an upstairs and downstairs seating area. Open kitchen and large grill in the front with some of the meats and vegetable dishes on display - all looking mouth wateringly good. It's also clean, bright and well organised and everyone is busy and active. Needoo serves Punjabi cuisine (Pakastani & Indian). Dishes sampled last night included: - Mixed veg Allo gobi with meltingly soft aubergine, pepper, cauliflower, potato with a delicate slightly smoky flavour. - Meat biryani: slow cooked, fragrant, tender. - Baby chicken masala: perfect spicing and flavours with tender tasty chicken. - Lahori chana (chick peas) which were also meltingly soft and delicious with smoky galicky and spice flavours. Even the zeera rice (with cumin seeds) was full of flavour. - Complimentary salad for the table and papodoms at the start. On previous visits I have also tried the lamb chops which arrive on a sizzling iron platter emitting spicy chilli smoke that was pretty potent. The lamb chops were probably just as good as the legendary Tayyabs, just around the corner. Actually, I think the food in general at Needoo was a touch better than Tayyabs (have only been to Tayyabs once but felt a bit like being on a conveyor belt). Only possible downside I can think of is that some of the dishes can be a bit oily but not sure this is a real downside since it probably wouldn't be the same otherwise. This isn't a diet destination. A TV showing Bollywood MTV and proper air conditioning add to the unpretentious ambience. It can get busy at peak times but if you go early there's no wait. Great, efficient service too. It's BYOB which is good (just remember beforehand since there aren't too many places to buy beer in the immediate vicinity). So 5 stars for all round excellent food, service and great value. read more

Needoo Grill - Mix veg allo gobi needoo grill - Indian Near Me - London, XGL

This place was soooo nooooommmmm!!! I came with some locals so the treatment I received might have differed, but the staff here was super attentive to the point where he was hovering over us. The food here is soo yummy - nothing like anything I've had in the states before. I had the lamb (SO GOOD) and I never eat lamb.. had their curry stews which was delicious as well. Their garlic naan was alright.. I feel like I would've preferred if it was softer, but everything was good. It's considered a bit "rough" to the locals, but I honestly didn't think the place was that bad. I mean it wasn't a 5 star restaurant, but the food really made it worth it. It also costed about 35-40 pounds for 4 people and we ordered TONS. Would recommend! read more

Fabulous food, terrible service.... but the food makes it worth it. Cheap and delicious. Mains arrived 3 mins after the starters were delivered, and the credit card machine stopped working.... although there was no warning of this when we booked ot arrived...but the lamb chops starter's were so good that it's still a 5 star rating. read more

Needoo Grill - Fab food, perfect for a group - Indian Near Me - London, XGL

I felt a little guilty as we passed the blue neon glow of Tayyabs calling out to me but we walked on by and turned right to Needoo's. I have spent the best part of twenty years locked in an affair with Lahore Kebab House and Tayyabs - each with their charms and faults. But tonight I was with friends and they wanted to try somewhere new. When it comes to Punjabi I don't do new....why would I? But Needoo's wasn't really new... this was a Tayyabs clone. Done well but not perfect. No queue, no licence and a short menu with the focus on grills. Ticked my boxes. Poppadoms and sauces were very good - better than Tayyabs actually but that wasn't why we were here. Lamb chops and seek kebabs plus roti followed. It was all fine...but not the real deal..seek kebabs just a bit too pattie like..not enough texture but spicing was good. Lamb chops - again tasty - but the grill needs to go up a notch - just not chargrilled enough. Sizzle plates but no sizzle....not hot enough to make the onions caramelised and no pungent aroma to entice you in. Fish masala was very very good - deep sauce and fish perfectly cooked - not dried out like I have encountered too many times before. So reason to visit again... The staff were great..we sat and drank our rum with them topping up the ice. It was great to kickback and take our time without waiters trying to free up the table. Overall very good - but not Tayyabs and Lahore good. Next time and there will be a next time despite the guilt I will explore the menu a bit deeper and beyond my trusted Punjabi favourites.. read more

See all

I am sitting in Needoo after seeing a friend recommend it. So far so good; my seekh kebab was excellent and service is lightning fast My chana chicken was excellent too. The only downside is that this place is just as busy as Tayyab's around the corner! read more

Needoo Grill - Indian Near Me - London, XGL

There was a time where everyone would only ever talk about Tayyabs. Those that know the difference between a great curry and a good curry will agree that Tayyabs has become a victim of its own success. Step in Needoo. Needoo is basically what Tayyabs was 10 years ago. Authentic, decent value, incredibly tasty food. The grills are amongst the best I've ever had - both abroad and in London. Just order a Needoo mixed grill and a garlic naan. Sorted. read more

I've never been to Tayyabs as whenever I've been the queue has been ridiculous. My other half has been and he prefers Needoo. We booked our table ahead and which was good considering when we arrived the restaurant was full. The 4 of us were absolutely ravenous so we picked apart the menu very quickly. We order 2 mixed grills, 4 samosas, Karahi lamb, Karahi chicken, rice, nann, paratha and a glorious jug of mango lasso. Despite being at full capacity our food arrived incredibly quickly. We were all so hungry we devoured the food in virtual silence. Needoo is very much what you see is what you get, no frills eating. Food is fast and very good. We all left full and very contented. Will be back here again soon! read more

Great curry without the queue from around the corner! I've been coming here for a few years as it was one of the former Tayyab managers who had opened up the restaurant. Don't know if this is still the case but the food is definitely worth stopping for. We had the mixed grill and some fish - both lovely and flavourful. We also had an array of other different dishes - some veg, some chicken. Everything was tasty! It's almost on par with Tayyab's but just misses the mark. You don't have that omg, that is amazing moment but don't let that deter you. The food is great! One drawback - I'd pass on the naan. It came shaped a little too circular that it made me suspect that it came from a packet! read more

I think I had heard that this place was run by the ex manager of Tayyabs. One day after venturing to Tayyabs I had seen a queue far too huge to wait for. We then proceeded to go to the nearby Lahore Kebab House. There too was very busy. So we googled and found that this place was of similar train of thought. As I said from the start much similar than you'd realise. Of course this place is much smaller than the former two mentioned. Overall it was good. But like all three the test comparison is always to get some mixed grill starters as well as curries but it's al says the starters name the lamb chops that set the benchmark. Here the lamb chops were good. But still nothing beats those sizzling marinaded lamb chops from Tayyabs. If it's all you can think about when eating then you know it hasn't surpassed it. It's still nice tho. Just, it's not Tayyabs. read more

From the reviews I was expecting the same or better standard than Tayaabs but we were disappointed on that front. I didn't think the lamp chops compared, they were fairly tasty but also tough and I think probably slightly smaller. Service was bizarre...we queued to get in but waited a good 15-20 minutes for someone to take our order which only happened after we flagged them down and after they took the order of the table next to us who had arrived quite some time later. Even then, the guy just wanted to take our starter order. We ordered the aloo gobi which is one of my favourite dishes and which many other reviews had recommended. The cauliflower was extremely mushy and it had no particular flaour. Chana chicken was dry and uninteresting. Aubergine daal was a bit nicer. Lamb samosa was served under (yes, under) a bed of wilted iceberg lettuce (never good, in my opinion, but especially not when off). At the end they were a bit short with us when we needed change to pay the bill and when we lingered for a few minutes someone came over and very pointedly said 'thank you.' I wouldn't have objected had their whole attitude been speed but seeing as they showed no desire when we initially arrived famished I just thought this was rude and summed up the whole experience: sub par. Overall, I don't think this is a good alternative option to Tayyabs. Suck it up in the queue over there. read more

This place is 90% as good ad Tayyabs but without the insane queue. It's really, really good. The chili lamb chops are a must, and be sure to pick up a range of curries. The chana was good though it doesn't have that mysteriously rosewater flavor that the Tayyabs chana has. One of the standout curries here was the lamb with spinach. The lamb was perfectly cooked and so soft. It's BYOB so you can bring your own beer or wine. Gluten-free notes: Most of the dishes here are naturally gluten-free. No naan for you. read more

The service here is super fast the staff very friendly , although I came on Friday and the place was almost packed , but was served by Arabic man and a lady , super fast service , didn't see this service long time ago ! Amazed with this staff !! Food was good not excellent , prices was very good 3 people we paid 25 . All in all worth a try . Keep this service up ! Thank u read more

See all

A friend first mentioned this place to me months ago when I said that I had been very impressed with Tayyabs. And when I needed a last minute option and Tayyabs proved too hard to book, I stumbled upon the name again and we were able to make a day-of booking for Saturday night here, which is also just conveniently located around the corner from Tayyabs. It was nowhere as packed as Tayyabs, but the room we dined in had a good number of people. The ambience is in between the canteen grunginess of Lahore and the relatively upscale decor of Tayyabs. The menu is just well-used laminated paper and a little gross to touch, but it is short and there weren't too many familiar Indian dishes that I could recognize. Luckily they have pictures, some parentheses after the name indicating things like (chickpeas) and (okra), and the server was very helpful and immediately named off some recommendations when I asked him about certain things. We ended up ordering the karahi chicken, special lahori chana (chick peas), and the mutter paneer (cheese & green peas). My favorite was the chicken, which had a lot of flavor, while the chickpeas were very filling with only some sauce, so I'd say that was my least favorite. Many tables ordered the lamb chops and those looked amazing, but it's a large order! We got the plain naan, garlic naan, and allo naan (which was filled with potato). The garlic was very similar to the plain naan so I don't think it is worth the extra price, and the potato was interesting but it was only sparsely stuffed and good but nothing spectacular. Overall I would say that Tayyabs is still my favorite by a long mile but this is a decent option. read more

Extremely cheap for the amount of food you get! Great if you are craving some quick Indian food. They have a pretty wide selection, including a lot of vegetarian options. However, what happened to the spiciness?? I understand toning it down, but I Just could not taste it at all. Don't let the entrance fool you, this place is huge. The decor is really bright and shiny, full of mirrors (to make it look even bigger I assume). There are plenty of waiters on staff. To be honest, I was more distracted by the nonstop South Asian music videos while waiting for the food...Think I'll just come back for takeout next time. read more

After getting my indian food cherry popped in Italy of all places, I've been on a mission to find the best. Word has it that London has some of the best Indian food in the world and looked for the highest rated one and saw Tayyabs. Like most people that find Needoo, they probably went to Tayyabs first and saw that ridiculous line. I've been to clubs in New York and Vegas with less of a wait time than Tayyabs, it's that ridiculous, but luckily yelp told me that the former peoples of Tayyabs opened Needoo down the street and although there was a wait, it's not crazy and the food was still excellent, had the lambchops was awesome. Service was slow read more

I'm always going back to this place for the lamb chops, dry meat, Karahi chicken, peshwari nan and chana dishes. The chana masala is so good. And of course it's byob, what's not to love. I prefer this place to tayyabs as it's less touristy and less crazy busy, but it's still best to arrive early as there can be queues. read more

Still one of the places I always go back to in London. It's noisy, there are queues, but the food is still great. And relatively cheap... Lamb Chops, Curries, al the sauces are super! Ok when you're done you can't think of eating anything anymore ever, but that is just temporary :-) read more

I would like to begin by exhibiting an abundance of pleasure...you cant see me right now, but I am smiling and jiggling my feet in excitement! Why am I so excited, you ask? Well, yesterday evening, at the stroke of 8pm, I devoured a DELICIOUS plate of Lamb Tikka, Chicken Tikka and Lamb Chops! I know I know...how can a humble plate of meats cause so much excitement? Well, allow me to enlighten you... The meats were delivered on a black clay platter, sizzling away on a bed of grilled onions. My face lit up with excitement, almost like a child as they received a big shiny Christmas present from Santa. My fork was braced in my right hand and without any hesitation i began to 'dig in'. The chicken was beautifully textured and flavoured, the lamb was perfectly tender and the lamb chops were simply delicious. The difference Needoos and other similar restaurants is that the prices are also very reasonable, and the quality is not compromised. To be perfectly honest, i love a curry, however i prefer the starters in these types of restaurant, and in Needoo's the starters certainly do NOT disappoint. I highly recommend this restaurant, enjoy your visit and i sincerely hope you enjoy the food as much as i did. Regards, Hermes Michael Solomonides read more

The food at this Whitechapel casa of curry was great. The atmosphere was kind of weird with the TVs and all. The chicken tikka masala was a bit greasy, but a little grease has never killed me. The fried rice and the naan were grade-A. One of the great mysteries of the night was the 'Daighi slow cooked dry meat,' which was one of the best tasting things I've had the pleasure of putting in my mouth hole. No idea what animal it is derived from, but the flavors were miraculous. That said, it is spicy. As in really quite spicy. As in get-me-one-of-those-helicopters-with-the-bucket-of-flame-retardant-powder-to-put-out-the-wildfire-in-my-mouth hot. But I couldn't resist. Mmmmm, Indian food. read more

A friend told me that the chef who set this up came from the infamous Tayyabs around the corner. I was a little late so didn't have a chance to try much, but the currys were reasonably tasty. Cost is reasonable at about 11 per person and everyone satisfied. Definitely a popular place! read more

We got takeout from here a couple of times while we were staying nearby. It is a short stroll away from the Royal London Hospital and it looks like a popular spot. There were always a few people there with the same idea of getting takeout and the restaurant itself looks huge with ample seating space. We ordered the butter chicken masala, pilau rice and a garlic naan. As usual for this type of restaurant, they gave us extra sauces and a small salad which we ended up setting aside. The chicken dish was quite different to what we were expecting. We are used to the creamier butter chicken which you get in New Zealand, but this may just be our misunderstanding. (The 'masala' in the name may be making it a different dish altogether, but that is just a guess.) The meal was fine and I have no complaints. The service was good too: the man taking my order was happy to answer my questions about the menu and did so with a smile. It is a solid choice for the area, but not a restaurant I would make a trip for. read more

Made a booking here on Saturday night, though we needn't have bothered as it wasn't terribly busy. Had a great meal here with lovely chutneys and poppadoms to start, before moving on to their gorgeous lamb chops. Just as good as the ones at Tayyabs as far as I'm concerned. They are not to be missed! Everything we shared was delicious, if a bit on the ghee-heavy side at times. I really enjoyed the mutter paneer, their Saturday special, but they have a wide variety of yummy dishes to choose from. Service was much friendlier than it was at Tayyabs too. They are BYOB, making this an affordable night out! read more

I was traveling through London with a friend, and one of his friends, a local, suggested we have lunch at Needoo Grill. This was a really excellent meal--some of the best Indian food I've had. (Admittedly I wouldn't call myself a connoisseur, but I'm not totally uneducated on the matter, and hey, I have taste buds, too.) Things we had that I'd definitely recommend: - Chilli paneer Tikka - Daighi slow cooked dry meat (holy moly this was incredible) - either the Karahi tarka daal or the Makhni daal (we ordered both, and I remember one of the daal dishes just being okay and the other being incredible, but alas, I don't remember which) read more

Delicious food, tasty and spicy. The naan bread with nuts is awesome! I would recommend this place to any Indian food lover. Please note that this is a ´Bring Your Own' place, which means they don't serve alcohol, but you can bring your own beers. Fortunately, there's a Tesco nearby. read more

There's a good review of Needoo Grill in The Guardian by Jay Rayner (Google it). The review states that the best thing about Needoo is that it's not Tayyabs. I agree with this as it's less of the boozy, loud, evening than you would have there. That said, the food just isn't quite there. The chops need to be grilled at a higher temperature to get some char on, the chicken is a little to rubbery (as if added to the sauce later on). Dry meat was tasty, but nothing on Tayyabs, and the tandoor naan was a little to toasty instead of soft and buttery. I would probably continue to choose Tayyabs over Needoo in the future based on the food alone. The sheek kebabs, and aubergine daal at Needoo are very tasty if you do go though. Guardian review: http://gu.com/p/2ba4c (Oct 2009) read more

Needoos looks like nothing special from the outside, but as soon as you get inside the smells confirm that you're in for a treat. I went with a bunch of boys and they ordered enough to feed half of Whitechapel: peshwari and garlic naans, seek kebabs, lamb chops, tandoori chicken, Daighi slow cooked meat, Daal baingun and Punjab Tinda. And wow! The food was out of this world. Everything was hot and fresh off the grill, perfectly spiced, succulent and juicy. The daal was the best I've ever had and the naan breads fluffy and fragrant. We barely spoke as we scoffed mountains of meat. The staff were super friendly and gave old-school proper service. There was the obligatory and oh-so-welcome hot-towels and choccy-mints and amazingly the whole meal came to less than £15 each. This was the best Indian meal I've ever had, bar none. read more

It was a trip with my (ten) office colleagues, since we pre-booked so no long wait in a queue. It was my frist visit to this place so looked all nice, until we started ordering. I speak Urdu/Hindi fluently so I asked few things about the dish (Nargasi Koftay) I was ordering since it was not a regular dish & it was a speciality cooked on certain days of week and thursday evening was the day when its served, I felt lucky, Oh God I was so wrong. When food started to come, they messed up all starters, and majority just accepted what they didnt order, apart from four lucky ones (including me) who actually got what they ordered. One guy didnt even get the lamb chops (Starter) at all & we had to cancel it. Same practice was repeated with main dishes, eight orders out of ten were correct two were onl accepted because there was no point waiting, but since I am a little fussy about food, I told them I am waiting for "Nargasi Koftay", then I was told "Sir we have to check if they are being served today or not". I was like, hey its thursday evening and your menu says they are served & the guy who took the order also said and took the order of "Nargasi Koftay" an hour ago. So he said sure, came back saying, 15 more minutes & your dish will be here. I thought yep, worth the wait. After about 10 minutes they placed a dish infront of me, "Two small mini meat balls, One over boiled egg cut in half & plate full of Potatoes", and I was "SHOCKED" I called the person who took the order & asked him, "What dish is it?" His reply was, "What did you order sir?" I said "Nargasi Koftay" and he said, Yes Sir, these are Nargasi Koftay. I am of Indo-Pak origin, professionally trained cook and he told me it was Nargasi Koftay so my obvious reply was, "Do you know how to do cooking?" This is "Koftay Aaloo" not even near Nargasi Koftay. But he insisted no these are Nagasi koftay. Their friendliness vanished after I complained, most of them ran away from our table and We Ordered 14 Naan (bread) we only got 11 and in the end we got a Bill of £165 that I was unable to make sense of because no itemised bill was given, it was just a paper with £165 written on it. Some dishes were good as I tasted my colleagues dishes, but being a chef myself I would say, they can Rob the people who are not Asian by feeding them Indian like dishes but its definitely not an authentic indian/pakistani food. I will not recommend it to any Asian at least since they will mostly come out disappointed like me, however it may be good for other European nationalities since they wont know the difference. But I am not going there again. read more

Took a chance on this place as an alternative to Brick Lane, and what a gem it turned out to be. First thing we noticed was how busy it was for a Wednesday night. We had to wait five minutes for a table, which is usually a good sign. The atmosphere was really good, with a broad mix of clientele - young and old, Asian, white and most points in between. Another really good sign. The staff were all really friendly, the service relaxed and welcoming. And the food... oh! Particular favourite was the fish tikka. My GF doesn't normally eat a lot of fish, but even she was really taken with this. We ordered a bit too much, so the staff were only too happy to bag the leftovers for us, which we're looking forward to enjoying at home. One star dropped for the presence of huge TVs in the dining area, something I cannot stand. Looking forward to a return visit asap. read more

I love this place - the quality of the food, the staff, the vibe but it let's itself down with such limited vegan and vegetarian choices

Fantastically flavourful food, quick service, and very generously sized mango lassi. Pretty empty on my weekday lunch trip, but I imaging their service would still be as quick and efficient on the busiest weekend. The lamb korma was the most memorable dish (Its a Wednesday special!). read more

Whether vegetarian or omnivore, the dishes here are fantastic. We tried the palak chicken, chickpeas, eggplant baht, okra and naan of course. All of it was absolutely delicious! Service was friendly and the price was very reasonable. They even let us bring our own bottle of wine and I don't believe there was a corkage fee either. It's certainly off the beaten path, but definitely worth the treck. read more

We go regularly and love it every time! Great buzz and the staff is attentive and friendly! The food is fresh and comes quickly! It's not expensive and good value for money! Everything on the menu is delicious! read more

This place is amazing. In fact I would put it right up there with the better known lahores and tayyabs, which are equally as good. Try the mixed grill for an amazing selection of tender lamb chops, juicy chicken tikka and succulent kofte pieces. Do not leave the onions under the lamb chops. These are fought over whenever I am there and a real treat. Extra bonus is that it has a BYOB policy making a cheap dinner out for an amazing return. I once even left my bag there and didn't realise until a couple of days after, but sure enough the helpful staff had held for me. On picking up, I even sat and had a kebab while I waited for the helpful chap to fetch! Fantastic service. read more

We came to Whitechapel to check out the market, and decided to have a bite at Needoo's because we were starved after a hard night's drinking. They started us off with a free salad, a mango chutney, hari chutney and an imli chutney in nice little silver bowls. Nice touch with the bowls by the way. They were not stingy with the sauces like other places we've been to, and gave you more than enough to have with your meal as we had some leftover at the end. (I've had to scrape the sauce out at other joints). My boyfriend and I got the Mixed grill BBQ to start, which was delicious and came with a healthy serving of assorted chicken, lamb, and lamb chops. Yum! We then got the Lamb Biryani and a Saag Paneer to share, with a side of garlic naan. First, let me talk about the naan. Oh. My. Days. I never understood why some restaurants did not seem to understand the concept of garlic naan being garlicky enough? Should a garlic naan not be dripping with garlic? Needoo's did not disappoint, and there was enough buttery garlic smothered on the naan for even a garlic connoisseur like me to be satisfied. I'm sure the other patrons in the place could tell I was delighted by my not so subtle vocal interjections. The lamb biryani was tasty, not too spicy but just right, and came with a sauce on the side that had tender chunks of lamb in it. The Saag Paneer had a certain sweetness to it that I found lovely and different. All in all, I was the happy little Asian girl sat in the back, sweating spices and clutching her garlic naan while happily chowing down. Literally 6 hours after my meal, I still feel stuffed. Would recommend. Oh and be prepared for loud cheerful decor, lots of mirrors, and Bollywood music videos playing on the TV screens. Enjoy! read more

Went to Needoo Grill tonight for dinner and it was amazing. We tried the palak chicken, the aloo gobi mixed veg, the okra, a lamb dish and naan, followed by some mint tea and chai. Fabulous meal, very flavourful. The service was excellent, extremely attentive. My boyfriend who is super critical about restaurants and food just says "yum." If you are in the mood for pakistani food, Needoo Grill is a must. By the time we left at around 9pm the enitre downstairs was packed. read more

Looks like a diner. really small. the rudest customer service ever. not going back. food is ok.

Oh yum. True to the reviews. Bright lights, lots of people, simple, excellent food. I ordered the Karahi tarka daal with plain Tandoori naan. Daal was smoky, spicy and nothing like what you get in most other north Indian restaurants. I didn't realize Peshwari naan was sweet - save that one for dessert. read more

The curries and biryanies faired much better than the grilled items. Good food in a low atmosphere. BYOB.

A restaurant with bling and great food. Take the daily special and a few naan breads. The queue of Bengalis for take away should give you confidence in the flavours and price (which are excellent). Cool and fresh, been twice this week already! read more