The Tamil Prince

"London has a tonne of restaurants for brilliant slap-up Indian meals, but only one of them is in a former pub off of Caledonian Road. It is one of the great collaborations of our time. Given the head chef of The Tamil Prince was in the kitchen at Roti King beforehand, it’s little surprise that the Indian spot is so good. The reality is 99% restaurant and 1% pub, but that isn’t to its detriment. Where the wooden floorboards of this comfortable dining room once soaked up years worth of spilled lagers, now it’s taking on the intoxicating aromas of sizzling lamb chops, garlicky tiger prawns, and pungent dhal. There’s a buzz about The Tamil Prince. There are whoops of happiness when groups see their hot air balloon-sized channa bhatura arrive at their table. There’s the definite feeling that this, the meeting of two great institutions, is what makes eating out in London so good." - heidi lauth beasley, jake missing, rianne shlebak

"The Tamil Prince is an excellent, buzzing Indian restaurant-pub hybrid on a quiet corner off Caledonian Road, serving pints to people with elegant blue-grey whippets and scruffy rescues in Barbour jackets (we’re still talking about dogs). Chickpea-covered fingers, chicken lollipop dipping, the huge show-stopping channa bhatura, and many napkins are a must here. FYI leads are a must too, those are the rules. " - heidi lauth beasley, jake missing, rianne shlebak, sinead cranna

"Although its name refers to a member of the monarchy, The Tamil Prince is the coming together of two other British institutions. The pub and the curry house. The Islington restaurant is on a quiet corner off Caledonian Road, but nothing about the food served at this cool, casual restaurant is pared-back. Onion bhajis are wild, flailing vortexes of turmeric-stained, deep-fried onion. Grilled tiger prawns straight off the grill glow orange while being blackened from char. The channa bhatura is a kind of delicious deep-fried UFO. Is it a pub? Is it a restaurant? It doesn’t matter. Go in numbers big and small." - jake missing, rianne shlebak, heidi lauth beasley, daisy meager, sinead cranna

"The Devonshire’s salty, pillow-posing bread is hand-delivered with tongs. Alright, no need for tears, let’s move on, because The Tamil Prince’s dough staple is a huge, tearable, deep-fried channa bhatura that is probably responsible for 98% of the ‘UFO sightings’ in Islington. A buzzing union of fancy pub and great curry house, this sizzling lamb chop haven also has an equally dominating presence on our Instagram feed, so it’s a great stand-in if you primarily want to say the magic words, “oh yeah, I’ve been there”. " - heidi lauth beasley

"London has a tonne of restaurants for brilliant slap-up Indian meals, but only one of them is in a former pub off Caledonian Road. Given the head chef of The Tamil Prince was in the kitchen at Roti King beforehand, it’s little surprise that the Indian spot is so good. The reality is 99% restaurant and 1% pub—and it’s the same with its sibling The Tamil Crown nearby—but that isn’t to its detriment. Where the wooden floorboards of this comfortable dining room once soaked up years worth of spilled lagers, now it’s taking on the intoxicating aromas of sizzling lamb chops, garlicky tiger prawns, and pungent dhal. " - jake missing