Woodlands is a vegetarian Indian restaurant. Please don’t stop reading here. Just the word ‘vegetarian’ should NOT put you off. Believe me, you won’t miss the meat. From the street (as you can see from the picture of Marylebone lane) you would walk past without a second glance. The decor inside is nothing to write home about but the great thing about Woodlands is the fantastic and unusual food. Shockingly, my husband who is a confirmed meat-eater, likes this restaurant and strangely, you really don’t miss the meat. Many of the menu items, you won’t find at most ‘standard’ curry houses and the selection is quite unusual.
Arriving early we managed to get a table at the back, but later on, the place was completely full. Starting with the ever-popular popadoms and Cobra we had one starter to share of multani paneer pakora, which is sliced Indian homemade cheese layered with date chutney, dipped in a chickpea batter and shallow fried. Served with mint and coriander dip. There were 6 pieces of the cheese and there was easily enough for 3 people. Very tasty and the mint dip that accompanied this, was quite spicy.
For the main course, we did rather over order. I had chosen tandoori mushrooms as I had never had tandoori vegetables before. To accompany this, we had some biriani rice and a spicy channa massala. Hubby had a vegetable dhansak, again spicy which he enjoys. The peshwari nan was excellent, probably the best ever.
This was really a little too much food. The biriani was huge and we didn’t finish it. I must not be tempted to order so much next time. We noticed two business men next to us who ordered soup to start (which I know are excellent, both the lemon rasma and the dal soup) then for the main course ordered two small starters each. Much better planning. I have previously had the uttapams and the dosas; these are really lovely.
The service was very good, the quality of food was great and we always feel that this is an authentic Indian meal. My tips here; don’t be put off by the unfamiliar menu – start with the thali if you have any doubts and above all, don’t over order.
I would give this restaurant a very high 4 out of 5.
katieshellard 