Social Dhaba

Social Dhaba opened in Hatch End in July 2019. The name “dhaba” refers to an Indian street food stall. The a la carte menu is extensive, and there is also a three-course lunch menu at £21.95. There is even a brunch menu offering dishes like masala omelette and chicken tikka roll. The restaurant is in a parade of shops on the busy Uxbridge Road, and is a large place, seating 110 diners plus a further dozen in the lounge. Beers offered included Kingfisher (£7 for a small bottle) and White Rhino. There were also some wines, though none had vintages listed. These included Montanes £37.50 for a wine that you can find in the high street for £14, Pierre Chainier Pinot Noir £54.50 for a bottle that retails at £14 and Araldico Flori Barollo at £87.50 for a wine whose market value is currently £23.

Poppadoms were fried and were crisp and unusually thin and delicate. The chutneys were nothing remarkable but the poppadoms were certainly superior examples of the breed, and came in a generously sized basket. We started with a couple of cold snacks. Bhel poori was reasonable though the tamarind chutney lacked flavour, and the overall effect was a touch drier than the ideal (11/20). Slightly better was aloo papdi chaat, which had decent potato chunks though the papdi crackers seemed a touch stale when they should be crisp (12/20). 

Methi chicken was pleasant, the chicken a touch dried out but the sauce had a reasonable kick of fenugreek (12/20). However, the superb versions of this dish as Koyal and Delhi Social are in a wholly different league. Fish masala was also reasonable, the tilapia pieces cooked fairly well and the sauce having plenty of flavour (12/20). Jeera aloo to me was rather too flaky in texture and lacked sufficient cumin (11/20). Better was a rich black dhal that was the dish of the meal (easily 13/20). Also good was a garlic naan, which was soft and pliable, and was served piping hot (13/20).

For dessert, gajar halwa arrived at the table hot and had plenty of carrot flavour, avoiding greasiness (13/20).  Also good was a nicely presented mango kulfi, which had a good flavour and smooth texture (13/20). The bill came to £83 per person with beer to drink. The portions here turned out to be very large, and so we could easily have spent less than this. A more typical cost per person might be around £55. Service was quite slick given that the dining room was very busy indeed on this midweek evening, with some tables being turned. Overall, this was a pleasant meal, with some dishes like the black dhal being very good. I would say that this is more of a decent local restaurant than any kind of culinary destination, but the packed dining room suggests that the locals definitely approve.