Royal Mahal

At Royal Mahal, starters of dynamite chicken are served in silver goblets with a side of billowing dry ice. And they’re delivered by bowtie-wearing waiters. Before we had a chance to say “what the—”, a conga line of sparklers left the kitchen and a birthday song began blasting out over the speakers. This Pakistani restaurant in Tooting is a non-stop party in a fake palace. Yes, you could question the taste level—there are more chandeliers than we could count on one hand and a neon-lit rock display in the bathroom. Or you could embrace the blue velvet banquettes and take it all perfectly seriously. While some of the food reads a bit gimmicky, like pizza samosas, for the most part it’s good. But this isn’t where you come for a life-changing lamb biryani. This is where you come for unabashed birthday mania surrounded by all gold everything, and to pull out videos of dry ice like you were at a U2 concert and wonder incredulously, “did that really happen?”.

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch