Rough and ready Pakistani grill house

The Lahore Restaurant has a BYO drinks policy and an open kitchen, but that's where the trendiness stops.

This homely and unpretentious Pakistani eatery serves grilled meats and karahi dishes.

The service is friendly, the food fresh and the prices are extremely reasonable.

The room is plain, and a couple of ceiling fans struggle to disperse the fierce heat coming off the grills.

There have been some queries about the chilli heat of some dishes - sometimes 'hot' doesn't translate as more than 'medium' and sometimes it means 'eye-watering'.

To start, order a couple of rotis and some grilled meats.

Chicken tikka is sound - a good portion, and tandoori chicken wings are great.

They're well marinated, perfectly cooked and spicy.

Tandoori lamb chops are outstanding - thick-cut, heavy with spice and juicy.

Seek kebabs have a welcome belt of fresh chilli and green herbs.

It would be quite feasible to make a decent meal of starters and bread, but the curries are very good, too, with simple dishes full of flavour, such as karahi jeera chicken.

The star turn is the karahi karela gosht - the tender, slow-cooked lamb has a rich sauce balanced by the addictive taste of bitter melon.

The breads are very good indeed.

For an interesting contrast, order a tawa paratha and an onion kulcha.

The paratha is wholemeal, thick, filling and fried until the outside is flaky-crisp.

The onion kulcha is doughy but stuffed with a rich onion mix that includes fresh coriander.

Beware, the off-licence next door shuts at 21.00 on weekday evenings.

The Lahore Restaurant
45 Station Road, Harrow, HA1