Bhoomi Kitchen in Oxford is an Indian restaurant that takes its inspiration from Kerala, serving traditional one-pot curries and famous barbecue-style dishes. The Oxford restaurant is the latest Bhoomi Kitchen to open, and features an al-fresco dining space on the terrace, overlooking London Road. If you're popping by for lunch, the daytime menu is served on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Rather than a la carte, Bhoomi Kitchen Oxford offers set menus and banqueting menus. At lunchtime, there’s a thali menu running alongside a brilliant value two-course menu. The latter starts with a choice of four starters. There are crispy chilli paneer cubes tossed in a spicy sauce, pani puri with homemade masala potatoes served with flavoured tamarind water, vegetable samosas and idli sambar - a South Indian ground rice and lentil sponge with sambar and coconut chutney.
As for the main, there are five options to choose from. First up is the ever-popular creamy butter chicken, made with cardamom, chilli, tomato and cream sauce. There is also a chicken biryani, lamb nilgiri, kadai paneer and baby eggplant curry with tamarind pulp. For dinner, the two-course set menu is more extensive, throwing in starters like lamb samosas, achari chicken tikka, mini masala dosa, and barbecued prawns into the mix. Some of the kitchen specials include a chicken stew with cuts of chicken leg, coconut milk, cinnamon, curry leaves and clove, and the aromatic lamb or chicken biryani with succulent layers of long grain rice, slow steam cooked with fragrant spices.
Alternatively, the Bhoomi Banquet menu offers the chance to take on a selection of classic Keralan dishes beloved by Bhoomi regulars. It kicks off with samplers of chicken 65, chilli paneer and lamb samosas before following on with your choice of two mains.