Julia was in charge of booking our pre-theatre meal. ‘Do you think Judith likes Indian food?’ she asked. ‘I suspect so, as she’s heading out to India for three weeks on Saturday’.
So before seeing McQueen at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, we ate in “Mint Leaf”:http://www.mintleaflondon.com, probably one of the nearest restaurants.
The two retirees were early and so had Bellinis in the bar from the Happy Hour cocktail menu (2 for £11). The worker trailed in after a hard day at the office and was in need of a cocktail, so Julia and I thought we might as well share the second drink.
The basement restaurant (which can be reached by a lift) consists of five individual large, rooms which, with polished dark wooden floors and furniture and subdued lighting, creates an intimate atmosphere. The pre-theatre menu has 2 courses for £13.95 or 3 for £17.50.
Whilst the food is reasonably priced, wine isn’t and our Pinot Grigio at £26 was one of the cheapest from an extensive, expensive wine list.
We had a choice of three starters and three mains: a vegetarian, fish and meat dish. My Mahi Tikka, three good sized chunks of moist salmon, was full of Indian flavours accompanied by artful swirls of two different sauces and beautifully presented on a black rectangular plate. Chicken Banjara, chicken thigh pieces were coated in a spicy sauce with a great consistency. I chose naan (which was thin and cut into quarters) instead of rice. Side dishes are £5 but the Tandoori Broccoli and Jeera Aloo were sufficient to share between the three of us. We declined puddings and settled for an ice cream in the interval.
When the bill was presented the waiter told us that a mistake had been made and happy hour was only on Monday AND Friday and not Monday to Friday as we’d thought. However, before we said a word, he told us he’d put them through at happy hour prices. What a decent chap.
The service had been good and we were in plenty of time to take our seats well before the curtain rose on what I will describe as an ‘interesting’ show. Whilst I’d recommend Mint Leaf, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend McQueen.
