The Monsoon

I have been frequenting Brick Lane for nearly 30 years and Monsoon is unequivocally the best curry house on the strip. Unlike many Brick Lane restaurants, Monsoon has never shut down and re-opened ‘under new management’ nor has it ever been necessary for the health authorities to keep a ‘keen eye’ on the place.

You are welcomed with sincerity and offered a deal at such good value it’s almost unbelievable. Next you are seated in extremely pleasant surroundings by helpful and friendly staff. You can bring your own booze which they will keep cooled in the fridge without charging corkage, all whilst keeping an eagle eye out for your bike or moped outside. Big groups have a choice of private rooms on the upper floors and couples can cosy up in any of the intimate corners.

Start with Koshi Fry, divine sliced lamb with green pepper and onion or Aloo Chat for veggies - diced potato in a sublime tomato sauce, middle of the roaders should start with Prawn Puree. Bulk up any starter by asking for a Puri, a thin but filling round of fried Indian flatbread, at no extra charge! Undoubtedly you will be satisfied by any of the mains, heat lovers should try the Garlic Chilli Chicken, milder temperaments go for the Prawn Pasanda and veggies will adore the Mango and Ginger Biryani. You will be awed by the delicious selection of sides, rice and breads to accompany your meal. Finish your experience with Kulfi, traditional Indian ice cream and round it off with an Irish Coffee – unbeatable in a Bengali run Indian restaurant in the old Jewish part of East London!!! Monsoon is fully licensed with good old kingfisher on tap although at £3.50 a pint it’s slightly on the pricey side – the only justifiable criticism.

I’d put a hefty wager that any night of the week you could ask customers in Monsoon if it’s their first time eating there and they will reply: “no – we come here every week!”

My family and I ate here on Sunday 24th May for my mum's birthday. The guy at the door offered us a great set meal deal of £10 per head which included ANY starter, ANY main, and rice OR naan with ANY first drink. It seemed too good to be true but the food was absolutely divine! The nicest Indian food I'd ever tasted. I would recommend the Monsoon speciality of Bay of Bengal prawns, they were GIGANTIC! and I've never tasted anything like it. All of my family loved their meals too and the service was brilliant. The owner even stopped at our table to make sure everything was ok. Will DEFINITELY be going here again! Thank you Monsoon.

I visited the Monsoon on Saturday 6th December 08 with my girlfriend. What can I say, perfect. The food was great, the service was superb. We didn't feel rushed to order our meal and wasn't huuried to leave our table even though it was very busy.The staff are very helpful, polite and friendly.The restuarant was very busy but this did not hinder the service we recieved. The Monsoon has plenty of staff to cope with the demands of a packed house. We were made to feel very welcome and I will be going back for sure...A meal for two cost approx £32 per head, including a nice bottle of wine, starters,main course,desert, and irish coffee's.I have been to many restuarants and have found on some occasions that when the restuarant is busy the customer service standard drops. This is not the case at the Monsoon, this is why I'm taking the time to write this review as i was totally impressed by the staff.
Jaz and Emma...

the monsoon has got to be a gem in brick lane. wonderful food and very good service. i am now an official monsoon regular and for good curry(royal lamb, divine!) i would never go anywhere else on brick lane.

Visited for my hubs birthday. Dishes were served on cold plates. Chicken in all dishes were cold but sauce was hot. Seems they must just add sauce to cold chicken.Cheap rice. Would not recommend. A very average meal. Not suitable for a big celebration.

been going 2 da monsoon 4 2yrs and i neva knew they had 3 chefs working side by side. the best of the best

if you want prawn puree go to this place one of the best !!!!

Me and my sisters went there on Friday and we were planning just to have a good night out, but then this nice looking guy came and said he will give us discount, please can you give us your number.... we really enjoyed the food even though we had a take out. Service was brilliant they took us right at the top floor. That nice looking guy came and checked if was ok. Also we did'nt get his name.. what's your name??
We all really enjoyed ourself there.

The very best of the late night Brick Lane restaurants. Friendly service and great food. Waiter even kept an eye on my Scooter parked outside!

DO NOT GO HERE. i was at brick lane for the festival on the weekend. decided to go here for a quiet curry with friends. we noticed a table of guys nearby telling their waiter that he had added their bill up wrong. he started shouting -a bit unreasonable. and then walked off. the guys stayed and waited for him to return. they were obviously willing to pay. then before we knew it the waiter returned with the kitchen staff and the rest of the waiters and started beating these guys up. it was incredibly violent. we watched the whole event. i was disgusted. i will never return here again. i recommend that no one does the same. couldnt tell you about the food. no surprise we didnt stay to find out

This place was great. I went with about 12 mates, and it's a rare thing that everyone raves about their food, but they did. Great flavours, hot without blowing your head off. Only complaint is that the beer was a bit steep, but overall good value and the service, which can often be poor for big groups was friendly and pretty efficient. I'd definitely go again.

Visited today and the food was awful. Very cheap quality rice, lamb pasanda was tough as boots in a red dye sauce. The chicken gaza was passable but tasted only of chillis.
If this is the best Brick lane can do then I would rather starve!! The only nice thing was the chapati.
Very poor.

I organised a party of 30 here and it went immensely well. The manager who I booked through was incredibly helpful and the staff and service were top notch. The table was layed out beautifully on our arrival and we had our own little room. My meal was delicious and I didn't hear a bad word spoken about any others either. I would definitely not hesitate to consider The Monsoon again. This is possibly the best curry house on the strip, for just a quiet meal for two or for a big group. Highly recommended.

the service and food was very good..the staff were very friendly. I would recommend everyone to go there for a good meal and enjoyable day..whether with family or friends it would be a pleasant day guaranteed. we were all happy with nthe food..vindaloo evtra spicy..yummy!!

I read another review of this restaurant which highly recommended it and so I managed to find it and was pleased to discover it met my expectations entirely. The food was fantastic, the prices were reasonable, so what more can you ask? The only thing I would say if its a cosy, intimate atmosphere you are looking for, this is not the place to go....... it is a modern, trendy little place which seems full all the time....so perhaps not a good place for a first date? But for any other night out, I would highly recommend this place. Fab food, great service and good prices...........Highly recommended!