The Nazrul

The right review for this is somewhere between 2 and 3 stars. In the one hand, there was nothing particularly terrible. On the other hand this is Brick Lane, where people go with high hopes for good Indian food. And here, in a prime piece of real estate, is an absolutely bog standard, mediocre Indian restaurant.
The menu is vast, containing all the generic entrees and appetisers that people have come to expect. To their credit they are not so relaxed as to write «CTM» instead of spelling out «chicken tikka masala», but that’s as much credit as I can give.
We were 12 people and we booked ahead. The service was typical, which is to say, slow, spotty, and fairly disinterested. The food all arrived timely enough and hot. None of it tasted noteworthy. It was absolutely average. Several of the vegetarian appetisers had that look and feel that suggested they were probably bought premade and heated up.
There are good Indian restaurants in brick lane. This isn’t one of them. Absolutely forgettable.

Diner beware! My evening at The Nazrul has got to be one of the worst dining experiences I have ever had. Master Chef winner? 35 years in business? I saw nothing that resembled either.
After spending the previous few hours sampling some of England’s finest fare at Borough Market, my sister and I decided to head toward Brick Lane in search of some Indian food. I’m understanding, slowly, that Brick Lane is not the area for this anymore. She described it as Pompeii.
The Food: we ordered Vegetable and Lamb Samosas, Garlic Naan, Chicken Tikka Masala, Lamb Tikka Phall, Pilau Rice, and King Prawn Biriyani.
The Samosas were okay, very oily (read: saturated), but still edible and had nice flavor. The portion size was a little small but for the price it was fair. The Chicken Tikka was previously frozen. I know this bc of the consistency the sauce takes on when it is thawed. It lacked any sort of body and flavor and was «the worst» my sister said she had ever had. I tasted it and agree that it was missing any sort of depth. When paired with the naan, it tasted like pizza. The Lamb Phall also suffered from this problem. Was it very spicy? Yes, but that was all there was to its profile. The Biriyani was not a traditional biriyani, which already has a loose interpretation, but was more akin to a creole style jambalaya. Flat out, this is NOT Indian food.
I grew up on Indian food. My grandmother not only cooked Goan cuisine, but that of other regions and know full well what things should taste and look like. I have been a chef and have cooked curries, saag dishes, and on and on for several years. What they are serving is an insult to the culture.
The service: deplorable.
Our patronage was solicited in typical fashion. Guy on the street runs after your attention, gets uncomfortably close, and says he’ll take care of you… didn’t much mind, I was walking there anyway. We’re sat and things seem to be going well. We order apps and they come on in record time, because obviously they were microwaved. Then a party of eight shows up. About an hour later our entrees hit the table. An hour. No apology, nothing. You can imagine the dismay when we see what we had waited for.
When asked how the food was, that we hadn’t touched, I replied that it was really quite bad. The server, shocked, and seemingly amused, inquired into further detail. Going down the list bit by bit he then asked what I would like to do with the food. I asked for the manager. I was sent a head server. Initially, we had a cordial conversation which quickly began to escalate in intensity. I assured him the we’d feel uncomfortable paying for anything but the apps and the service, and he said that he couldn’t do anything. His name was «Abz». Mister Abz, you sir, are a liar.
Suffice it to say, we had a rather angry argument in the middle of the restaurant, where periodically Abz would go back and forth to the *actual* manager. This meek and slithery individual wanted no part of the conversation, nor did the chef, even at my earnest requests. Each time, the price in the bill lowered, until finally the piddly little gesture ended with a final reduction of £1.25. We still paid 40 quid for absolute garbage that I wouldn’t feed a dog.
Please, if you’ve read this far, do not spend your hard earned money here. They simply don’t deserve it, even if not every dish was as bad as ours.

Nazrul Café is the oldest Indian restaurant on Brick Lane. That is saying something. Despite all the competition, it remains one of the best curry houses on Brick Lane. It is situated right in the heart of Banglatown.
Nazrul is named after the famous Bengali poet and revolutionary who battled oppression. I think he would approve of the food here. My favorite starter is the Shamee (Shami) Kebab. The minced lamb topped with a fried egg and the accompanying sauce springs to delight on your tongue. Then follow it up for your main course with a Jalfrezi. They are awesome here. The marinated meats are lightly fried and the sauce draws in the chilis and the spices. Make sure you order some rice as a base for this dish. The lamb jalfrezi I ordered burst with real heat and abounded with a panoply of flavours. A mango juice is the perfect liquid accompaniment.
I’ve been coming to Brick Lane since I was a school kid. You don’t know London until you eat in Banglatown. Indian food in London is not toned down or bland like it so often is on the continent. The food here is the real deal.
Brick Lane is at the top of restaurant streets in Europe.

For my first Brick Lane experience I was not impressed. Over all everything was about mediocre. The service was ok, unenthusiastic and distant once you got in the door. The food was ok, it took a loooong time to get to my table though (about 30 mins). I can’t say anything particularly negative about the place except it fell short of the fabled Brick Lane curry experience. I would try elsewhere.

This place is awful. All of the waitstaff here are scam artists trying to up sell you something. Most restaurants make money by developing a good reputation for food quality and service. This restaurant does not care about either since it makes it’s money by roping in tourists off the street with two full time street salesmen. We ordered a Balti chicken and a Shrimp Bengali. Both were pretty much flavorless and crappy. Lesson learned: find a restaurant on or off Brick lane that does not rely on street salespeople to fill the restaurant.

I went there with some friends from abroad because we wanted to have some delicious indian food. This restaurant caught our attention, because a guy standing outside made us a bargain, so no service charge, drinks for free and 20% off on the total bill. when we ordered the check, the total amount was pretty high so we asked for clarification. Results: Normal price as in the menu written, we had to pay for the drinks and we had to pay service charge and at the end they deducted 20% of an amount, which was far higher than everything we had consumed. After a discussion, we finally paid only the dishes for the normal prices and the drinks, so not really a discount on anything except from the service charge we didn’t pay. I just wanted to get out of this place so I paid it, but this restaurant is really cheating on you, so basically everything they promised was a lie. However the worst thing is that my 2 friends threw up the whole day after, so there must have been sth wrong in the chicken tikka massala they ordered. i will never go there again!

I love Nazrul’s for nostalgic reasons I used to go there alot in the 50’s & 60’s
with the family Behan. If you go with a big party, go downstairs, more space.
Its still good but as had been said elsewhere about Brick Lane
the whole Lane is full of guys touting for your custom which is so off-​putting on your way to Nazrul! Still good value for good food but not the rough & ready place it once was! J’aime Nazrul pour nostalgie de la boue: je m’en vais souvent en ¹⁹⁵⁰⁄₆₀
Il est si bien mais, comme les autres ont disent de Brick Lane tous aire est pleine des types qui racolent pour vous a manger: c’est irritant en route a
Nazrul.Meme, il avait de bon valeur pour manger. Mais maintenant c’est une
autre chose!

A few weeks ago I somehow managed to persuade my oh-​so-​very-​out-​of-​the-​loop Londoner husband to Brick Lane for his first ever curry there! A friend had told me all about the wonder of the bargains you can get, and as I love a good curry I couldn’t resist. Nazrul grabbed our attention because they gave us free drinks.
The décor is a bit bland, but what do you expect from a curry house? I did enjoy the Indian music videos that were playing. Luckily (for us) the place was all but deserted so we had our pick of seats and got to sit near the window. The food was just above average so it was well worth the price.

A venerable curry house that has resisted the trend for modern décor and boutique dishes. I can’t comment on the á la carte food but the set menu was disappointing. It’s the best you could expect for 6.95 but you’d be far better off spending that money for a single dish. Unlicensed but staff are happy to open your own bottles for you.

It was really nice to see this place still there, used to go there over 25 years ago with my wife, so as I had travelled to brick lane with the intention of having a good curry, thought id give it a try. and I was not dissappointed, the food was great. and the service was excellent, and it was very busy, and giving the number of curry houses in brick lane. I took that as a good sign, although I am against the trend of restaurants having someone outside touting for trade. but that seems to be the general trend down brick lane. But all in all a very good meal

Nazrul serves a variety of popular Indian dishes, offering cheap set menus for around £7, including a no-​alcoholic drink. The food is tasty and the portions are big.
Nazrul is not licensed so you need to bring your own booze, otherwise you can get a 10%off card from the waiter to buy it in the wine shop around the corner.