Asra - Berlin

This place is known to be one of the better (best? Indian restaurants in friedrichshain, but unfortunately it still falls below average for me. I was...

After a long Sunday out and over in this area we felt like something warm, comfortable and close to us. So we decided for Asra because mostly Indian food would be...

I had the Malai Kofta with cream almond sauce. Did not have much taste, the Nan was served cold. Ashoka in Charlottenburg is much better than that.

Walked in with all the optimism of finding a good curry on our first day in Germany. Should have been put off by small tables, always a suspicious trademark. We moved inside to sit on a bigger table.The poor selection of liquors should have been our next clue. But optimism still prevailed. First out came the popadoms, possibly the worst popadoms I've ever had. Definitely not home made. 1/10Next came "bhaji-gate". An abomination of onion rings was presented to my pals. These floppy battered things looked like Freddy Mercury. I was offered Iceland Kerry Katona brand range chicken nuggets; sold to me as chicken pakoras. All the starters came with budget salad and a garlic sauce which should have been reserved purely for class A criminals. Next came out the mains. I wasn't feeling up to my usual medium-hot spicey dish, so opted for a chicken korma. It was at this point my dreams of a great curry in Germany came crushing down.The tesco value chicken combined with cheese and tofu was just too disgusting and the icing on the cake. I refused to pay and had a barrage of staff try to intimidate me. As a goodwill gesture I offered them 5 euros towards the chef's next culinary lessons and the restaurant's next trip to a half decent supermarket for ingredients.The worst curry I've ever had, rude staff.

Nice atmosphere and service, relaxed and good prices. Food was around 5 euros for a main meal with starters being about 3 euros. a good selection of alcoholic cocktails. Comfortable chairs too