I am always on the search for a good curry, and the other day one of my best friends and most reputable eating buddies told me that Namaste is his favourite Indian restaurant in Seoul. Since he is a man with impeccable taste, I decided to take his good advice and go pay it a visit. Located near Dongmyo station I’d usually decline going to a venue so far from my neighbourhood for reasons of laziness, but since it was on my way home from work I threw caution to the wind and decided to just go for it.
Located on the second floor of a somewhat shabby looking building, it’s far nicer once you go inside, no linoleum floor and strip lighting for a start. Lush sequin fabrics line the walls, the tables are carved wooden affairs, and Hindu gods and golden trinkets adorn every surface as far as the eye can see. It’s actually a very nice setting indeed.
While I flicked through the menu I started off with a Mango Lassi (4,000). It was a Monday and all, and my liver had taken quite a battering on the weekend. Pretty damn good indeed and a good way to kick things off.
To start we of course got samosas (4,000) as no meal is complete without them. The thick pastry crust was filled with potatoes and vegetables. As good as the ones I’ve had anywhere else, but sadly ketchup came as one of the dipping sauces along with the spicy green one. I always order Raita (4,000) on the side but it never shows up until long after my fried appetizers have been devoured, perhaps I need to start calling ahead.
We also got the Vegetable Pakaura (4,000), again cheap and tasty but I would like better dipping sauces. If that could be arranged they would get a two thumbs up from me.
You can’t beat a good Chicken Tikka (10,000) and this one was flawless. The meat was cooked traditionally in the tandoori oven on a skewer. There were juicy nuggets of marinated chicken in the wonderfully tangy and flavourful tikka sauce. Pure bliss , I could easily have eaten this all by myself.
We decided to get an array of curries to please all our tastes. In particular for me the stand out was Butter Chicken (10,000) which was beyond rich and creamy heavenly goodness. The Vegetable Korma (9,000) again was exceptional and a dish I would never usually try. It was very mild but the sauce was so mourish. We got a Lamb Vindaloo (11,000) which is The Fat Boyfriend’s favourite but personally I found a bit too spicy, but he assured me it was on par. We also got a Palak Paneer (9,000) which is usually one of my favourite curries, but compared to the others wasn’t even half as tasty, and I didn’t really care for it. Overall I was pretty damn happy though.
You can’t have curry without naan, so we got a couple of orders of the Garlic Naan (2,500). The bread was very good but not quite as good as the ones at Taj Palace or Everest.
As you can see we had quite feast between the three of us. The few leftovers we had, we got wrapped up to take home. Plus a couple other curries to take home for later by a person who shall remain nameless. Overall I was really happy with the meal, the curries were tasty and the prices are exceptionally cheap. Despite the fact it’s not as close to my house as one would like, I’ll still be paying them another visit soon.
Namaste is located at 316-2 Sungin-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. Take a train to Dongmyo Station (Lines 1,6) and come out exit 5. The restaurant is on the second floor of the building just to your left. For more information call them on 02-2232-2286.