BOMBAY BRASSERIE, KENSINGTON

Bombay Brasserie is something of an institution. It's a beautiful restaurant near Gloucester Road serving classic Indian dishes. I went along a couple of weeks ago to check it out post its recent refurb, and when I put a picture up on Instagram a friend commented that Bombay Brasserie was her grandpa's favourite restaurant, and that he took them there about 20 years ago for a meal for a special occasion! It opened in 1982 and has been going strong ever since. Owned by same group as Quilon this is the more affordable but no less impressive little sister restaurant, and one you should definitely check out if you want to eat exquisite Indian food in beautiful surroundings.

We started our evening with a drink, naturally, before going on a behind the scenes tour of the kitchen, prep area, and tandoor ovens. It was a fascinating insight into the workings of a restaurant, and the chefs swooped around us, carrying on with their business as if there weren't an extra 15 or so people blocking up their kitchen!

We watched as head chef Prahlad Hegde prepped various dishes to cook in front of us to try - we had crispy prawns with a trio of peppercorns that were knocked up in minutes, and hot from the tandoor oven naan breads to go with the lamb seekh kebab.

 

After our kitchen tour, and just in time to let the chefs get on with cooking for the customers, we moved back to the main restaurant, into the conservatory area, which light and airy and full of hanging plants, for our mammoth dinner.

We started with sev batata puri - wheat crisps topped with a Peruvian potato mix, gram flour straws and chutney - a sweet and sharp, all in one mouthful (just) snack of deliciousness.  

Next up was starters of ginger flavoured lamb chops, tulsi chicken tikka wings, chargrilled basil flavoured chicken surpemes and palak patta chaat - crispy fried baby spinach with yoghurt, date and tamarind chutney. My favourite was the lamb chop which was juicy and perfectly pink, and really messy to eat!!

 

Already nearly full, but with much more to try we moved on to mains.... Masala seabass with spinach and mushroom - you must try this if you go. The flavours were so expertly put together and the seabass cooked to perfection, I would've been happy if this was my only main - it wasn't though! There was also braised lamb shank, which in fact is also another must order - meat that fell away from the bone with the lightest touch, and tasted heavenly; chicken makhani - chargrilled chicken thighs in a creamy, yet spicy butter sauce; allo roast baby potatoes with ginger, lime and spices; and finally one of the best dahls I've tried - a dal makhani cooked in a traditional Punjabi style. Mains at Bombay Brasserie range from £10 up, so it really is good value for the quality of food and cooking that you get.

Pudding, which I could barely manage any of, though what I did try was as good as the rest of the food, was a trio of chocolate raspberry, mango Rasmalai and tender coconut ice cream, which you should definitely save space for! Full info on the restaurant can be found on their website here, and make sure you book if you want to go, as they were busy when we went on a Tuesday night, so I imagine they're even busier at peak times.