On one of the hottest days of the year, we made our way over to Camden to check out Baba G’s, winners of BBC2’s show My Million Pound Menu. The win bagged founders Alec Owen and Liz Selway a £300,000 investment from Michelin-starred chef Atul Kochhar and allowed them to open their first bricks and mortar site, in Camden’s new North Yard.
Alec and Liz first started Baba G’s in 2008 and have been a staple on London’s street food scene ever since. The new restaurant builds on the success of their street food stalls (in Camden’s West Yard, POP Brixton and Vinegar Yard London Bridge) in a well-designed, sleek space.
The restaurant has a prime location in North Yard located on a corner with plenty of outside seating; needed on such a gorgeous evening! And despite the heat, we were excited to dig into some spice. The menu features the ever-popular banghra burgers – an Indian twist on the classics – alongside pachos, chicken tikka nuggets, Kerelan green salad, loaded fries and more.
Excited by it all we eventually plumped for pachos with paneer saag, a crazy lamb jalfrezi burger, a naga delhi double burger and masala fries. The pachos are exactly what we’re sure you’re thinking – nachos, but using mini, crunchy poppadoms! They’re served with Indian salsa, mint raitha, mango pulp and green chilli pickle as standard and we added some paneer saag as a topping. We can honestly say they are one of the most delicious things we’ve eaten in a while. Crunchy, spicy and sweet all at the same time, I don’t know why we’ve never thought of this before. So simple yet so good!
Both burgers were perfectly cooked, managing to be seared on the outside without becoming tough on the inside. The lamb jalfrezi burger was accompanied by the same sauces as the pachos which added depth to the overall flavour of the burger. The naga delhi burger, so-called due to the spicy naga chilli sauce smothered on the bun, was sufficiently spicy for those who like a kick, and came with an onion bhaji piled on top for good measure! In fact the naga chilli sauce was so nice we’d recommend ordering extra for the side to dip anything and everything into!
The masala fries were the one item that let us down a bit. The fries and masala sauce were good but lacked the same punchy flavour as the rest of the food. If having them again we’d probably plump for adding a topping – the paneer saag was very good.
We also have to say how impressed we are with the regeneration of Camden’s North Yard. Camden isn’t somewhere we venture often, in fact, it’s often avoided if possible! But the North Yard had a lovely atmosphere, especially on a warm evening. It reminded us of the beginnings of the Granary Square regeneration by Kings Cross and we noted a few other spots we’d like to check out!
If you’re in the area or going to a gig at the Roundhouse, we’d recommend giving the new North Yard a visit!
For more information on Baba G’s, visit bhangraburger.com
