16 Prescot Street,
London,
E1 8AZ

0872 148 2198

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

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If you are looking to enjoy gourmet Indian food the 'al-fresco' way, the newly opened Ginger Garden is an ideal setting.

Jungle greenery encircled by vivacious walls and serene Parsee murals provides a cosy ambiance for lunch or a light dinner. A traditional mosaic bar sports its main feature: an outside Tandoor where award-winning chef Cyrus Todiwala MBE, owner of the renowned Cafe Spice Namaste creates fiery, flamboyant delights over the hottest of flames.

Puffed crisp poories and curried lamb puff pasties set the tone for our evening. Garden "Sizzlers" at £10.95 included lamb kebabs, chicken tikka and marinated Indian cheese interlayered with aubergine and pepper. Meat was juicy inside and deliciously charred on the outside. Chicken tikka peri peri was definitely not for the faint-hearted.

More adventurous items included wild boar sausages spiked with spices and simmered in Goan Vindaloo masala. Exotic grilled sandwiches oozing such delicacies as duck tikka with mango and cheddar or Parsee lamb were washed down with a Mango Bellini or a cool beer. We wondered where the desserts were on the menu.

Cheerful, gracious waiters were on the ball, happy to give the low-down on the menu. For Cyrus, the training of his staff is "almost a religion"; it was obvious that he had invested a great deal in their training.