Is it worth spending any time around Brick Lane? Can we find authentic Indian or Pakistani food there, or will it all be watered down for tourists? Any noteworthy places to eat?

Yes it is very much aimed at the tourists.

There are places you can get authentic Indian food (tooting and Southall for example) but Brick Lane ain't one of them.

Agree most curry houses on Brick Lane are sub-par. Maybe the sole exception I know is Tayyabs in nearby Whitechapel (though more of a kebab house).

Alperton/Wembley is another non-touristy area with good Indian restaurants. Especially southern Indian vegetarian types.

Drummond St near Euston has a cluster of Indian restaurants but then again, most are "all-you-can-eat buffet lunches" (who know how long those unidentifiable curries have been simmering) aimed at tourists.

Chol turned me onto Green St

and i went there recently as this street could come right out of Bengal - lots and lots of nice clean restaurants that could be in Dacca it seems

an all Southeast Asian crowd - really great street of sari shops and all SE Asian clientele

there was even a beggar in the street showing off her chopped off leg stub - a ubiquitous scene in South Asia

Southall i suspose may be similar but this is one great street for South Asian food and culture

Immediately adjacent to the Upton Park (no park here) Tube station in deepest East London

Turn left out of tube for the South Asian part

To the right seems Cockney Eastenders and a parade of greasy old English chippies and cafes as well as the West Ham football club stadium

I did Green St on a Saturday and it was hopping

So was the hooligan area around the stadium as it was a game day

I enjoyed "Hot Stuff" on Wilcox Rd Vauxhall. Good food and reasonable -

Yes and you do not have to go to a SouthAsian area for such restaurants as they are located virtually everywhere - thanks to the many many south asians who live all over london

as well as dismal English cuisine which drives even the English to seek out alternatives to English cooking

there was a recent thread about brick lane. worth searching for.

no, brick lane is not the place to go for the best curry. however, the quality has improved over the last several years and there are at least a couple of decent places (new ones opening all the time). i don't think the quality is any worse (in fact can be somewhat better if well chosen - and more interesting menus) than your average curry house that you might randomly stumble upon in, for example, the west end. try city spice or the shampan. and, of course, biegel bake for hot salt beef on a beigel.

there is very little 'authentic' indian, pakistani or bangladeshi food in london....so it's no crime not to trek out to southall. most londoners have no idea what 'authentic' is.

brick lane also has some interesting shops and is a decent place for an afternoon stroll. i would say it is well worth an afternoon.

Green St. sounds more enticing than Brick Lane, if only for the food. But I think my group all read the novel "Brick Lane" and now want to see the real thing. If there's enough to occupy our afternoon I'm OK with that.

You could combine it with a look around Spitalfields.
The church is well worth a visit and there is a very good little food shop there called A. Gold that sells authentic British food which pace Pal Joey is not at all dismal.

I quote
" A. Gold has gathered high-quality regional produce from across the U.K. Run as a village in the city, A. Gold stocks everything from a host of fine British cheeses, chutneys, handdmade pies, scotch eggs, oysters and ham on the bone to sugar mice, Vimto lollies and pear drops"

Green St. sounds more enticing than Brick Lane, if only for the food. But I think my group all read the novel "Brick Lane" and now want to see the real thing. If there's enough to occupy our afternoon I'm OK with that.>>>

There is a film called Green St. It's about football hooligans. It's rubbish.

I have visited Brick Lane several times over three or 4 decades

and on a recent look i'd say it ain't nearly what it used to be

seems much of the once lively South Asian street had moved elsewhere - to greener pastures

The last visit i was really appalled at how desultory the Lane looked - not that many restaurants any more, etc.

I just recently read the novel 'Brick Lane' myself and can't imagine it making anyone want to go there ! Brick Lane itself features very little in the book and when it does, it's as the scene for a riot Most of the novel is set on a rundown high rise estate.

pretty much sounds like the desultory Brick Lane area i saw recently

Definitely not worth the trip. The curry's by and large mediocre, under-portioned, and hard-sold. There's a few nice-ish cafes and bagel shops up towards Bethnal Green Road, but the street's status as a tourist attraction is baffling to me.