39 Upper Street,
Islington,
London,
N1 0PN

0871 971 3469

Note: Calls cost 10p per min plus network extras.

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Not a million miles away from ViewLondon favourite, Masala Zone, is another modern Indian restaurant, the interestingly-monikered Gufaa.

Its interior is more up-to-date than most, and the menu includes good-value thalis; yet this is where the similarity ends.

Eschewing Masala Zone’s bench-style seating, Gufaa relies on traditional tables with clean, crisp linen, though the décor throughout is simple and modern, with not an inch of flock wallpaper in sight.

The service, in common with many Indian restaurants, verges on the over-attentive, though the menu – well laid out and easy to navigate – is encouragingly short; there’s every possibility that these dishes are actually being cooked fresh, rather than reconstituted from pans of generic meat and sauces.

The Xacuti Gosht was sour and spicy, though predictable, and could have done with more lamb; the Murgh Sagrana, a house speciality, was creamy, fragrant and moreish. Massaladar alloo gobi was delicious, with the tang of fresh spices.

Whilst Gufaa can’t quite compete with Masala Zone on price, it’s still an inexpensive evening out; were the drinks better prepared, one could almost be tempted to make an evening of it.

And if that’s really where the savvy restaurateur makes their money, Gufaa would do well to up to ante at the bar: after all, N1 is not short of alternative drinking holes – the next-door Steam Passage being more than happy to supply our post-prandial aperitifs, as well as provide further opportunities for an entire evening of juvenile, fart-based jokes.