Poppadom Express, Bloomsbury

Since the place literally had an entrance at the Royal National Hotel there was no way we could've missed it. The decor was well-lit and roomy but not very Indian, which could be a good or bad point depending on how you see it. We went for a Saturday lunch and we practically had the place to ourselves. There was a bar which we didnt utilise but must be useful to drop into during evenings.For a buffet, it was disappointingly limited. The fact that I can list all of the starters is a bad thing: spicy chicken wings, fried cod in batter, cheesy bites, some other form of fried bread, tortilla chips and poppadoms (of course!). There was a decent range of chutneys at salads: mango, chilli, mint, and one which was so disgustingly strong that surely only Indian can enjoy? For the mains, there were 5 types of curries but two of which were vegetarian. The mild chicken tikka masala was dry and lacked variety in spices. The medium lamb rogan josh was an improvement. Finally there was a prawn curry which had a surprisingly lot of prawns but were disappointing overcooked so that they became tough. There was just one pot of basmati rice to go with everything.You know its a bad thing when you start including the aesthetics of their fruit tray as a good point. I was quite impressed by the variety and colourfulness but really they could've spent more time adding to the food range. We had to return to the starters since we ran out of new thing to try so quickly. The staff were all so welcoming and efficient that I didn't mind paying a tip at all. At £9 (including service) for a lunchtime buffet including a drink, it was about average for a London meal. I'm glad I visited it once but I won't do so again unless I was in the area and desperately hungry.

I recommend that you Avoid!

Poppadom Express - Been in here first time and I would say that it's not what you would expect in an Indian restuarant. The decor was contemporary with neutral colours, the staff were friendly and the food was excellent. I would say visit the place and see for yourself, but by all means do not compare the curries with other Indian restuarants. They might have the same name but they have totally different flavours and we enjoyed this from beginning to end. I recommend this restaurant for special occasions and nights to remember.

Poppadom Express, Bloomsbury - What kind of restaurant has a menu with 3 draft beers, only to have them all "unavailable" at the same time ?

The restaurant that would rather you paid £5 for a bottle of Cobra (available in most others for £3.50) or almost £4 for 330cl bottles of other beer, rather than £2.70 for a pint.