Nineteen Club review: This Jubilee line odyssey to India ends in… jubilation

I remember my first batata wada. We landed in Mumbai in the early hours to rain that felt seismically torrential, before scrabbling to get a cab and working out how to find our hostel. One night in India was as far as we had planned. And this was years ago: no smartphone data for us. So it was sodden paper maps, indecipherable and illuminated only by fuzzy streetlights; humidity interrupted by rickshaw horns and people asking us if we wanted to go places. “Oh right,” Jacques cooly identified as we finally galloped over a small river and into reception. “Our flights were so cheap because the monsoon season isn’t over.” It was 3am before Ewan, incoming from a banana farm in Australia, found us tucked up by a fish tank on the floor.We got a few hours’ sleep before stepping out into the daylight to find food. Soon we were holding plastic bags of bhel puri and paper plates of batata wada (fried balls of mashed potato, garlic and chilli). They were served piping-hot from spitting oil and we dipped them feverishly in mint chutney. Suddenly, for a moment, the rain didn’t matter. They were an umbrella. Two days later we clung to more as we went to the train station to travel north.Fast-forward to today and I’m trundling on the Tube to Queensbury, a residential part of town below Edgware. It’s hot in London, humid too, but I’ve been informed by a local — and a Mayfair restaurateur — that the place is worth the journey. Nineteen Club is almost at the end of the Jubilee line, close to where our sprawling city becomes woodland and wedding venues still outnumber Substacks. Below a blue sign are windows frosted in opaqueness and two signs promoting live sport..This is a Gujarati sports club with a fizzing blue carpet Tim Martin would be proud of and a sleek gold bar adorned with a purple trim. The room is softly lavish: sparkling chandelier; cushioned burgundy seats; ornamental fittings. It feels like a pub, just an Indian one. By night, the spirit bottles on the mirrored back bar glow in blue neon, surrounded by old bank notes pinned to the wall. There are television screens hanging every which way and a window to the kitchen.Food at Nineteen ClubJosh BarrieThis is where members of the local Indian diaspora meet and the wider community congregates for £4.40 pints of lager and generous Indian food. The Guinness is £5.10; two Punjabi lamb samosas cost £3.90.Drinks menu at Nineteen ClubJosh BarrieThere are traditional Gujarati snacks, from patra tava (fritters made of colocasia leaves and gram flour) to methi gota (similar but with fenugreek leaves). But the menu is expansive and spans wider still (Mumbai, in neighbouring Maharashtra, for example). Josh BarrieIt’s emptyish as we sit down in a booth but soon fills up with dads with sons, groups of portly old boys and the odd solo diner in need of the Premier League, paneer and a glass of Royal Challenge, a whisky I first came across at a Delhi karaoke bar. We have batata wada, and I can hear that thundering rain again. Alongside, a nourishing veg masala bristling with chilli, turmeric, cumin and ginger. The chicken tikka arrives sizzling theatrically on a cast iron skillet, the meat resting on fired white onions, puncturing the room with steaming aromatics. “Sizzlers” became so popular in the 1990s that a well-known pub group built a whole brand around them. They bring about a beautiful char and certainly vajazzle proceedings, but often leave the meat a little dry. A deep, rich dish, with cushion-like meat slipping from bonesThe spring lamb is recommended. Why is immediately obvious: it’s a deep, rich dish, with cushion-like meat slipping from bones and marrow mixing into the sauce. There’s a punch of chilli too, though it’s tempered by tomatoes, cinnamon and cardamom. It reminds me of railway lamb, a Raj-era dish once served on long train journeys, but without the coconut milk (to cool heat-averse officers) and so much tamarind juice (to preserve sans refrigeration). We scoop it up with great folds of buttered naan. By this point, I’m rapturous. I’m in a bustling room, full to the rafters with football, cheap pints and curry. Shouts erupt as goals are scored. Beer taps purr before the waitress nips out for a cigarette. I could sit here all day, but remember I have the rest of my weekend to get to. Of course, it’s a long way back on the Tube. Doesn’t matter. Good food is always worth the journey.Mitesh Patel“Everything at Nineteen Club is good. Highly recommended for watching sports with some drinks and great food. Bombay mix and tandoori wings go nicely with some beers.”Chetna Patel“Good vegetarian options, tried the new menu. Delicious authentic food. Food didn’t disappoint. Service was great and a very cosy atmosphere.”Rakesh Mistry“My bro came down from States, said let’s pop in and give it a try. It felt like going back in time with the deco and felt nostalgic in a good way. Amazing food.”