The first thing you notice about the Blue Junction is that it doesn't look like an Indian restaurant at all, it looks nothing like you're expecting (although if you've read this first it obviously might not be true). It's down the side of the civic centre in Morden, (in the same building in fact) and it looks from the outside more like a cafe or a bar, or one of those places which sell cakes which always get you wondering how they manage to stay open. There's floor to ceiling glass windows without any curtains, and a glass lobby to keep the cold out. There's TV screens showing the football too, and blokes sitting at the bar who look like bus drivers, they look like they're just having a beer as opposed to waiting on some onion bhaaji's. They even have a decent selection of normal beers on tap, Bud lite (why do they spell it like that?), Guinness and a few others, so my guess is if you just want to go in and "just" have a beer, it's absolutely cool.
The front tables nearest the bar (circular) aren't set up with cutlery or anything (none of it is if I'm remembering right) and as far as the two girls serving drinks and bringing food out are concerned, the nearest they've been to the Taj Mahal is the Indian restaurant in Thornton Heath. In short, the Blue Junction is a different type of Indian restaurant to what we're used to. There's no guys with the old tux on polishing your plate before they put it down, there's none of those little metal heater stands they plonk your little circular metal dishes on (which curiously aren't even hot usually), none of that birdseed stuff that gets stuck in between your teeth when you try some. It's different, kind of half bar half food, and the laid back nature of it takes a bit of getting used to.
Lots have got used to it though, I'd been recommended to go there over a dozen times in the last couple of months. Some of the Indian guys who use the Alex go there regularly and absolutely swear by it, refusing to countenance going anywhere else. On the night we went it was pretty busy (with mostly Indian people) for an in between Christmas and New Year night, and the football was no crowd puller (Crystal Palace against somebody I can't remember).
So the food. We had onion bhaaji's which were the authentic, "not rolled up into balls" type. A plateful of sliced onions in whatever they put on them to make them taste like onion bhaaji's (I'm not going to pretend I know). They were superb, the veggie samosas were great too, while the lamb chops were really tasty. Quick word of warning here, the place might not look like an Indian but the food is pretty authentic, that is to say IT IS HOT. When they say "mild" it means "lively" in English. "Medium" means pretty bloody hot actually in yours and my language, while "Hot" means this is going to have you sweating through your eyelids. As such, even the starters have a bit of a kick to them, yes even the bhaaji's and samosas.
For mains my son had chicken tikka massala (I was surprised they do it but they do) while Sarah had chicken with lentils (I guess we'd call it Dhansak bu they called it something else). I can't remember what mine was called to be honest, but it said it was "Hot" on the menu and they weren't lying. When I say hot though, you can still taste the food. It is beautifully flavoursome, and every single item we ordered was absolutely first class. the rice, the naan etc were also brilliant, and the cucumber raiita was by far the best I've ever tasted. The manager bloke told me the chef is one of the top Indian chefs in the country and has worked with this owner for many years, and that they grind their own spices and all that jazz. I guess they all say that, but from my perspective (and I do like curries) I think it was the best Indian food I've eaten in a very long time, perhaps even ever.
I don't do marks out of ten, but if I did it'd be a ten. Go to the Blue Junction, it is absolutely superb food.
