Southall and Green Street are London’s centre points for South Asian shopping and whenever you’re in either one of these place you just have to pop in and eat at one of the restaurants. After doing some shopping last week and with 2hrs left on my parking meter what better way to finish the afternoon than enjoying Southall food.
Location
Watan is located at the south end of Southall Broadway where the majority of restaurants are. Its nestled between Steakout and Southall Mosque. Parking is available on surrounding roads after 6pm but since I went in the early afternoon, I parked in the enclosed car park which was 5mins walk away.
Is Watan Halal?
Watan only serves Halal meat with no alcohol served.
Atmosphere
I expected the place to be relatively empty. Weekday afternoons aren’t generally busy in Southall and whenever I’ve been to any restaurants this early in the day they’ve been pretty quiet. There were only 2 other tables full when I went in, the total space looked like it could fit just under 50. All tables were made for 6 people which was odd – though this is an area where families often go out together to eat as opposed to just couples. I always like it when the food is being cooked nearby instead of a back room and near the front of the restaurant there was a very long charcoal pit where they grilled the meat.
Food
Watan is fully halal and styles itself primarily on an Afghan cuisine, they do mention also they serve Pakistani and Middle Eastern dishes. Since this was a quick snack (clock watching for the parking meter) there are two items which must always be tried – seekh kebabs and the chicken tikka.
Lamb seekh kebabs are always my default but opted for the chicken seekh kebebs. Now it might’ve been a few months since I had my last chicken seekh kebab but this was a little too salty. There was nothing wrong with it but ordering again I’d have opted for a lamb version. Nevertheless they arrived hot and sizzling.
I’ve been to this restaurant before on the advice to try the chapli kebab. Whilst I didn’t order one this time, the giant chapli kebab (bigger than your palm) would’ve been a better option. Just for proof of size I need to go again.
The chicken tikka was a tad disappointing. I couldn’t put my finger on what exactly was missing but on retrospect I feel it was the quality of the meat which wasn’t up to scratch. I’ve been to the majority of the restaurants in Southall and the chicken tikka is the staple in my order. Very easy to compare good chicken to bad chicken.
Value
Nothing crazy about the price yet nothing to rave about finding a hidden gem.
Service
Food was delivered as soon as it was ready off the charcoal. Staff were very friendly and attentive yet were very loud when talking to each other. Perhaps in the evenings this would be drowned out by more customers but when there are 10 people in the restaurant it was all you could hear.
Overall
6/10
Website: www.watanrestaurant.co.uk
Note: If I have mentioned that a restaurant is Halal it is due to them displaying a Halal sign or asking the management on the status. However, please confirm yourself as well to avoid any doubts.
