All Comments

Neil - Like many curry houses around Kings Cross they're not really set up for large groups but simply passing trade by couples or families having journey breaks. This showed with the long time it took to serve the starters (just over an hour). Also some of my mixed starter was cold and a couple of pieces were over-cooked. The chicken biryani main was fine and the stuffed paratha very tasty however, as I guess they had more time to prepare. VFM was quite poor for a very average meal in the end.

Jon - No real complaints about the Kavali but nothing stood out either. Mixed starter was nice enough, although finding the starters on the menu was challenging as they were in the middle, while the King Cross Mix Masala was interesting but unlikely to tempt a repeat.  Great chat as usual and good to see Dom out again.

Mark - My planned trains to and from London were both cancelled so I had to pre-load in Biggleswade prior to the plastic glassed Lucas Arms. Onto the 'new' Kavali which was empty apart from us but we were still stuck in the back corner with the return of Dom. My starter of meat samosa was bad - it tasted like it had been fried in several days old oil. At least the main of Lamb Aacher and mushroom rice were good but disappointingly my digestif never appeared despite reminders to the one waiter. The bill said Gulab but this was certainly not on the same level as previous visits and I won't be in a hurry to return.

Brian - An enjoyable evening - I quite like the Lucas Arms, the meal was very good, and of course the company was excellent. The Taaza Mass Baja main, fish with stir fried vegetables, was very good. Rice and sides all good, although the absence of spicy pops was a negative. They also ran out of Cobra and mango juice, which seemed to be due to a lack of planning. Waiter was attentive, helpful and occasionally amusing, which has mitigated the negatives on the ambience score.

Dominic - Having nominated its predecessor, the Gulab, I was more than a little interested to see how the relaunched Kavali would fare. Unfortunately, not very well. While the decor is somewhat new and "buzzy", there was no great ambiance for me. As for the food, my off-piste Reshmi Kebab was quite dry while my main of a turned-up Lamb Bangla Moger was somewhat bland. The rest was ok without any standouts meaning a very expensive meal for what I had. Notwithstanding, it was great to see some familiar faces once more and my obvious worth to the club was clearly on display at the outset by me pointing out how the menu worked to an "expletive Google-Boy"!!

Tim - The place was empty when we arrived (apart from early arrival Dom). There was some unusual decor, including a wall of roses, although one segment of the LED ceiling strip seemed to be wired incorrectly, as it changed colour differently from the rest. The menu was half inside-out, as the starters were in the middle, instead of the start. There were no spicy poppadoms - I can't remember the last time that happened. I wasn't sure the special mixed starter exactly matched the menu description - I didn't notice any mussels for example, but the taste was fine. The plates, and generally the portions seemed quite small, particularly the rice, as I got barely a spoonful from a half portion. The chilli chicken main - apparently a recommended chef-special - was a bit disappointing: there was something "flat" about the taste, more like English gravy with Indian spices. There was also not much chicken and it was not all that spicy considering it was 3 chillies on the menu. It was nice to try malai kofta in addition to the usual sag aloo and mushrooms. The overall cost was pretty high, particularly considering the fairly small portions.

Graeme - After quite a while being "Closed for Refurbishment", the ex-Gulab has re-opened as The Kavali. It looks quite smart inside but I was concerned about a large wall decoration of closely-packed roses (plastic, presumably) - they are going to get so dusty! I chose what has become my default meal at the KX Tandoori (the sister restaurant of this one): Fish Tikka followed by King Prawn Pathia. The main course was very good but I was disappointed with the starter - it tasted OK but lacked the half-cooked onions of the other restaurant. The service was very slow even though there was only one couple there apart from us. The one-and-only waiter didn't seem bothered, although he was pleasant enough. I thought it was very expensive - I feel I have been generous marking the VFM at 4/10 but, all-in-all, it was a nice meal.