If the London restaurant scene is anything to go by, Indian food is more popular than ever. Why? Because they’re opening up all over the shop. Turn your back for a second and bang, there’s Gunpowder round the corner from Spitalfields, with Darbaar sprouting up not far away behind Liverpool Street Station. Think you’ll struggle for a naan in Soho? Never fear, for a new Dishoom on Kingly Street has arrived to meet all your chutney-related needs. OK, you get the picture. But are they any good? Read on as we deliver our verdicts on each.
Darbaar, City
This addition to the City’s dining scene is the debut restaurant from Abdul Yaseen (ex-Cinnamon Club LINK), a place where East collides with West in decor, flavours and cooking techniques. Akin to a contemporary Indian palace – it’s all midnight blue, copper tones and gold chandeliers, with silver elephant heads adorning the walls – the formality is tempered by an open plan kitchen (complete with a wood-fired oven for cooking nanza, the totally inspired pizza naan) and convivial proprietor.
Amritsari-spiced calamari fritters were a fresh-tasting snack to start, followed by a shared grill stacked with all the goods, including lobster-proportioned Madagascar prawns, chicken from ‘The Royal Pot’ and crumbly lamb seekh. Hyderabadi kid goat biriyani was perfect eaten wrapped in a fistful of garlic naan, while ochre-red kasturi butter chicken was homely yet light. Halwa spiced carrot cake with lemon figs was an interesting take on the very English classic, while a lemon and stem ginger brûlée with rhubarb compote which we wanted to try was obviously popular because they had run out. Instead, say goodbye with a Darbaar Lemon Kiss – a shot of homemade liqueur.
The international wine list and solid cocktail offering from the separate bar will keep the City slickers – which this sleek effort will no doubt attract – happy, be it for a business lunch or celebratory dinner.
For more on Darbaar, take a look inside with our recent video
Dishoom Carnaby, Soho
A vibrant menu? Check. Queues for dinner? Check. Kitsch Bombay nostalgia? Check. It’s business as usual for Dishoom’s fourth outing (following
Shoreditch,
Covent Garden and
King’s Cross LINKS), but that’s no bad thing. A relatively small facade belies this sprawling ground-floor restaurant and bar, including a ‘living room’ with easy chairs and coffee tables. Styling is inspired by the 1960s, in a nod to neighbouring Carnaby Street’s golden era:
Brimful of Asha in four dimensions. Such a large space delivers a supremely spirited buzz, galvanised by an army of professional staff.
Spice takes a back seat on a menu of small plates, grills and biryanis, the Carnaby sali boti special combining lamb with a velvety meat gravy, showered with crisped potato shavings. Dishoom excels at comfort food, whether it be a melting Cheddar-stuffed naan, deeply creamy black dhal or a ‘Frankie’ naan parcel loaded with grilled paneer and mint chutney. The spiced cocktail list includes bottle-aged options; wines focus on Europe; and the delicious house chai (served to the hour-long queue outside) is unmissable.
With evening reservations for six diners or more only, Dishoom is best suited for parties: it certainly has the vibes, flavours and drinks for the job.
Gunpowder, City
Tucked down a side road off Commercial Street, this tiny offering from Calcutta-born Harneet Baweja delivers rustic Indian tapas plates against a fuss-free backdrop of exposed brickwork and simple furniture.
Each dish tells a story from Baweja’s homeland and the concise menu is influenced by availability of produce: a teaser of a spicy venison and vermicelli doughnut was a delight, as were maa’s Kashmiri lamb chops, which were comfortingly familiar but fragranced by the subcontinent. Whole seabass was a fresh taste of the sea given a chilli kick, but the real star was the nagaland house pork belly – caramelised, melty meat scattered with beautifully contrasting crunchy tamarind kachumber. For afters, nostalgia will lead you to the old monk rum pudding (an exotic take on bread and butter pud), while chocoholics will not be disappointed by molten spice chocolate cake with masala chai custard. A small global wine list has something for all, but we recommend sampling the cocktails, where whiskey is muddled with tea and a Margarita comes with a tamarind twist.
Super friendly staff and reasonable prices for something a bit different make for an excellent ace up your sleeve if you find yourself around Liverpool Street – as well as impressing friends with your superior knowledge of tucked-away gems, of course.
In case you missed it, we recently delivered our verdict on Hoppers in Soho (above) too, yet another brand new Indian restaurant. Read more here.
This article was published 25 November 2015