Hemel Hempstead, Indian Restaurant Guide

This Wembley fixture (with spinoffs in Hatch End and Kingsbury) is best known for its all-you-can-eat Indian vegetarian buffet with a choice of 45 items, including an Indo-Chinese selection with dishes such as chilli paneer. The family-owned business started out 40 years ago as a market stall.

“If you like dosas, idlis and uttapams”, these “cheap and cheerful” but “spotless and well-run” canteens in the West End (plus Hammersmith and Harrow) are “an excellent choice for very good South Indian vegetarian food” – they’re also “a top option to take a crowd because they’re not fazed by large tables”, and “even carnivores don’t complain” when they try the “tasty food”.

It has a star chef’s name over the door, but feedback was inconsistent this year regarding this outpost of Atul Kochhar’s empire of Indian restaurants. Amongst reports, one diner described dishes as plain “bizarre” and another who felt the “food is OK” added, “but it’s not worth the price and overall seems overhyped”.