MerazCafe Karahi House

Small café on street off Brick Lane. No hard sell. Casual. The flavors are outstanding.

My husband and I found this place through the reviews posted on Unilocal.The Brick Lane district had been recommended to us by friends so we ended up wandering around a bit but made a turn down a side street when we saw the reviews for for Meraz.
We had a delicious meal and were treated very well by the restaurant staff. Each dish was full of flavor and aroma.
Small place, without the bells and whistles you may find on Brick Lane, but if you want an incredible Indian meal, give this place a try.

I wanted to avoid all the Indian restaurants that try to catch you on Brick Lane, this one is a bit on the side and not too easy to spot, but it was a great experience all around, service is good, prices are correct, there is a large choice of dishes, not too much to wait for service. If you are on a tour of London, you can use the toilets as well. I highly recommend, walk a bit more and go there if you can!

Chicken Tikka masala here probably my favorite in London. A bit small size but super fresh, tasty and has character
BYOB spot, no frills, good service, very affordable for London: all around a solid place for both a meal alone or a night out with friends

Very welcoming — small place where the cook still waves at your from the kitchen! Price was great for what we ordered and the taste really good also. It’s a little off the beaten path which we enjoyed

Just off Brick Lane, this little café serves home cooked Indian food. The menu is awesome and has authentic options. The waiter (I think the owner) was super friendly and asked how we found out about his place — Unilocal of course!
We ordered tandoori king prawns (you get 4 big meaty prawns on a sizzling skillet), and sides of chana massala and sag aloo both of which were amazing. We also had a portion of pakoras (5) and 2 poppadoms to start. Go for a mango lassi to drink… the sensation of the sweet mango and spice from the dishes is always so good!
Overall the food was amazing and that was enough for two people.
The only comment I’d make is that the food was really salty… we were dying of thirst for the rest of the night. It wouldn’t stop me from going again though. I’d just make sure to order water with my lassi ;)

I debated reviewing this place because I don’t want it to get crowded. This is the best Indian on brick lane — well it’s actually a block off brick lane but close enough. Prices are very reasonable and no haggling. A dinner for both My wife and I average about 15 pounds total. We like chicken with special pickle and the keema naan.

I was craving Indian and London is known for having excellent options, so when we set out for dinner, we let my temporary Londoner niece lead the charge. We made our way to ‘Little India’ and were bombarded with amazing smells of curry. We ordered some garlic naan and the chicken tikka to start. We must have been hungry because it all disappeared quickly. The naan had just the right amount of garlic for this group.
I know we shared our entrees, but can’t remember exactly what we ordered. I know we had at least one order of Chicken Korma floating around and my husband ordered something with lamb. We ate every last drop of curry sauce left on the plate and were very happy we passed on all the other places we saw as we made our way here.
MerazCafe was aMerazing.

Lovely place to spend your lunch time. The food is delicious and there are lots of drink options.

We discovered Meraz about three years ago and it serves the best Indian food I’ve had outside of India! We’ve taken many different friends there, who have also recommended it to other friends (we should be on commission!). Samis Lamb, Chicken Achari and ‘Cabbage’ lamb are my favourites. We always feel welcome there with their great, relaxed service. They have no need to drag people in off the streets their reputation goes before them!

Described by the owner, Sam, as ‘one pot comfort food, like we make at home,’ Meraz Café is exactly the type of place I’d go when I’m missing my grandma’s cooking.
Though it’s located a stone’s throw away from my flat (and indeed, so close that I saw my landlord there when I went in for a meeting), I’d never before seen or heard of this delightful haven of Bengali cookery.
When there, I sampled the chana masala, puri, and a cabbage and veg curry. The chana and curry were spiced similarly (with ginger, garlic, and mustard seeds — very much like home!), with a tomato and oil based sauce of medium-​thickness, and no cream (!). The cabbage curry had evenly julienned slivers of carrot and onion, which allowed for a very nice distribution of different flavours and textures. Me likey. The only thing that I would have changed was that there was quite a bit of oil in the dish that pooled at the top (I suppose it was an oil-​based sauce…), although that’s not too different from the food we eat at home, as well. The puri was light and fluffy, but also a bit oily (puri is generally like that, which is why it’s not my favourite bready thing to eat, and I always prefer chapati or naan).
Lastly, the prices at Meraz Café are extremely fair, and even I can afford it on my student budget — at £2−3.50 for a veggie curry dish, and anywhere from £0.75−2 for a vessel/​carb (whether puri, naan, or rice), I have a feeling I will be back here over, and over, and over again. I told Sam he’d have to kick me out for coming to eat here too much, and I plan on making good on that promise.

I must admit that I’m not exactly a connoisseur of Indian cuisine, but that being said I really love coming here. The guys are great, and the food was delicious. Even though I have a pretty low tolerance for spicy foods, I managed to somehow clean my plate! The definitely pre-​cook everything and just reheat, but I feel like most of their customers aren’t coming here for fine dining. My favorite part of Meraz though? The prices are so affordable. And as a student living nearby, you can’t go wrong with feeling stuffed while spending less than 10 pound.
Overall, it’s a quick, cheap, and pretty darn good place for an easy meal.

Visited for lunch. The dal pakoras on the menu were a surprise and delicious. Chicken kebab was good but the sweet red sauce drizzled over it was a mistake. Loved the palak and dal dishes. Service was very attentive. And the price very affordable.

the food was ok and for london the place was affordable. We had samosa’s which were very dry. The lamb vindaloo was good but not amazing. The BYOB really made this place worth going to. I would return again but with a big party of people wanting to have a good time and drink.

Having lived on Brick Lane for years, Meraz Café is now the only place that I now go to for a curry! The food is always good, is very reasonably priced and we always enjoy ourselves. Unlike the bigger restaurants on the main road (where you rarely get a great meal, and are constantly pestered as you walk along Brick Lane), Meraz delivers every time! Thank you!

I have enjoyed coming to Brick Lane for a curry for many years, but I am put off by the aggressive touting for business. I just don’t trust a place which offers 30% discount plus a free bottle of wine — the standard deal shouted at us from all directions tonight. It is sad to see that the popularity to the area has led to such an unpleasant level of competition. Gone are the days of strolling down Brick Lane and being able to study the menus in peace, picking up a bottle of wine from across the road and enjoying an authentic experience at reasonable prices. Or have they?
We escaped the bright lights and loud voices of Brick Lane and wandered up and down some of the side streets. And in Hanbury Street we struck gold. No pimping for business, a short menu with daily specials and no alcohol — perfect! The food included the usual faves, but also some less common dishes. I particularly liked the sundried spinach which we were advised to mix into the rice — delicious! Today’s special was sold out and we were offered chicken jalfrezi as an alternative — cooked to perfection and on the bone.
Staff were lovely and I am not surprised to read on their website that the Meraz is a family business. This was probably as close as you can get to being cooked for at home.
I won’t give up on Brick Lane quite yet — leave the main road to the tourists and support this hidden gem!

Talk about cheap eats! This place is cheap and has decent Indian Food.
Meraz has been around since the 1970’s serving up delicious home cooked Indian food.
We’ve eaten here many times and here are some of our favorites?
Appetizers:
chicken tikka: cubed chicken marinated in yogurt and spices
lamb tikka: tender cubes of lamb marinated in a blend of spices
seek kebabs: minced lamb with fresh coriander, ginger and spice (skewered in tandoor)
kebab wrap: a piece of seek kebab, with a wrap of your choice (chapathi or purée)
meat samosa: a dry mince with herbs and spices (deep fried)
VEGETARIAN APPETIZERS ARE GOOD TOO:
bannir aloo: new potatoes fried with fresh coriander and spices
dall bora: crushed red lentils with fresh herbs and spices (deep fried)
pakora: a home made style onion bhajee
vegetable samosa: with mashed potato and fresh herbs filling (deep fried)
Entrees:
Sag gosth –lamb with spinach this is curry
chiken tikka mossala
chicken korma
If you are vegetarian try the following:
Bombay aloo: traditional spicy potatoes
Tarka dall: red lentils with fried garlic and red chilli
Chana mossala: chickpeas with herbs and spices
Sag aloo: spinach with potatoes
Sag ponir — ponir (cheese) and spinach
If you are feeling like a Tandoori dish:
Samis lamb: marinated with fresh garlic, ginger, coriander and yogurt, then cooked in tandoor and fried with onions and spices Tandoori lamb chops: marinated with meraz special spices and cooked in the tandoor
Lamb tikka: lamb off the bone marinated in a yoghurt blended with fresh spices
Chicken or lamb shaslick: roasted green pepper, tomatoes, onions and chicken or lamb tikka
if you can’t decide what to get — you can always get their Tandoori mixed grill which is a combo of four tandoori items for less than 10 quid.
We usually end up getting rice and naan and we’ve tried the following which are all very good– Garlic Naan, Kheema naan (naan stuffed with minced lamb meat and spices) and parantha.
The chicken beryani and Pillau rice are aiso very good.

As a visitor from the US, you hear about Brick Lane and when wandering there you don’t know where to start, but after going off the beaten path I found Meraz Café. The fresh, sizzling dishes and reasonable prices made it worth the visit.