Place: Sakonis
Location: Uxbridge Rd, Pinner
Cuisine: Indian
Meal: Dinner (with wifey and our lil one)
On: Thursday, 19 September 2024
To celebrate one of our many anniversaries, we decided to head out for an early dinner on a Thursday night. We drove to a new place called Vaaghar in Pinner, but it was crowded, and they didn’t have any tables available for the evening. Next, we went to Social Dhaba in Hatch End, but they were fully booked as well. Given that it was a weekday, we didn’t expect restaurants to be so busy, but it seems Thursday is the new Friday. Thankfully, Hatch End High Street has several options, and we finally found a table at Sakonis.
Sakonis has been on our list for a while, but since their menu options are quite limited, we had been avoiding it. Anyway, we settled into a corner and decided to order Kurkure Bhindi and Manchurian to start the meal, and for mains, we got the Aam Ras and Poori, Paneer Butter Masala with Naan, and a Triple Hakka. The service was a bit slow, so we had to wait a while to place our order.
The Bhindi was served in about 10 minutes, and I was quite impressed with the portion size. In terms of taste, they were excellent—perhaps even a bit better than the ones you get at Dishoom. Crunchy and perfectly seasoned, it was a great start to our meal.
The Manchurian came next, and again, the portion was generous. The Manchurian balls were a bit hard, but overall, the dish tasted good. It was quite spicy, by the way.
Aam Ras and Poori were for the little one, and she enjoyed them. The pooris were soft and nice, and the aam ras, although made from canned mango puree, tasted fresh. It wasn’t too sweet, either.
The Paneer Butter Masala was served with a portion of naan. The paneer was soft, and the gravy was rich with a pleasant flavor. While the naan tasted good, it seemed like it might have been a store-bought frozen variety. Also, one naan wasn’t sufficient for the amount of curry, so we ordered another.
I love the Triple Schezwan Noodles you typically find in Mumbai, so I was looking forward to this dish. Triple Schezwan is usually a combination of spicy noodles and rice, topped with crispy noodles and served alongside vegetable balls in Schezwan gravy. Unfortunately, their version, called the Triple Hakka, was quite different. While it did combine noodles and rice with fried noodles on top, it didn’t include the side dish. Additionally, they used vermicelli noodles, which didn’t quite complement the rice. Although it didn’t taste bad, it wasn’t great either.
Overall, it was a decent meal, offering a mix of highs and lows. The Bhindi and Paneer Butter Masala were the standout dishes, while the rest were rather meh. As mentioned earlier, the service wasn’t great—only two women were managing about six tables, and they seemed to be struggling to keep up. Additionally, their menu is quite limited and a bit expensive, making it challenging to find a variety of options that justify the cost. I’m not sure if we’d be returning.
Food: 8/10
Service: 7/10
Ambiance: 7.5/10
Meal for 3: £66.76
Verdict: 7.5/10
