M18 Stanmore - Restaurant review

M18 restaurant review on Her Favourite Food

Cuisine: Indian
Style Points: 5/5
Price: ££
Overall: 5/5

M18 restaurant in North West London is no ordinary Indian restaurant. Walking into M18 feels like walking into a swanky Mayfair venue, as the high-end decor and tech which adorns this restaurants can match any in the West End.

M18 boasts an in-built wine fridge, flashy cocktail lounge, high-tech ambient lighting and even a tenpin bowling alley come nightclub located beneath underground. The interiors definitely impress and we couldn’t wait to see if the food matched up to it.

What’s on the menu?

Once seated and refreshed with a glass of prosecco from the bespoke bar, we went with our waiter's recommendations and ordered some of M18’s menu highlights.

Serving up traditional Indian dishes with a modern twist, we started with M18 special baby lamb chops which were marinated in a special blend of Indian spices and dry fenugreek leaves, cooked in an authentic tandoor oven.

We also tried the garlic chilli paneer served with onion and peppers in Indo-Chinese preparation style sauce and freshly chopped spring onion. I loved the flavours in the Manchurian style paneer and the lamb starter was both tender and delicious.

For our main course we opted for the waiter's suggestions again and tried the M18 lamb shank, cooked with our chef’s special blend of Indian spices. This was the standout dish for me and the lamb was so moist and tender that the meat practically fell off the bone. It was evident that the sauce was rich in spices as it had an intense depth of flavour to it. This was served with butter naan, pilau rice and salad.

Other signature main courses at M18 include pan fried sea bass, M18 masala langoustine and M18 Chicken Xacuti.

Of course we couldn’t leave without dessert, for which we tried the ras malai and the chocolate biscuit stack with chocolate ice cream. Both served as a refreshing yet indulgent end to a delicious meal.

Price?

M18’s prices are at the higher end of the scale, with starters costing between £8 to £16 for the non-vegetarian options. Main courses are priced between £10 to £15 which is reasonable, but the signature dishes can cost up to £25.
However there are a range of set menus on offer which can bring down the cost of dining at M18 considerably.

Overall?

M18 in Stanmore is in the market to offer something different to diners. M18 aspires to be more than a standard Indian restaurant in North West London, and it has achieved this with it’s luxurious combination of glamorous interiors, decadent dining and glitzy bar and nightclub area.
For those looking for a West End style evening out without having to travel into Zone 1, M18 is the place to be.