I'm sure you know by now that I'm a big fan of Kricket. I've reviewed them twice, and they've appeared in my Top 10 2015 and 2016, the latter being due to the fact that they've got a new restaurant. I've been twice now since they secretly opened in Soho in December, taking Rhea with me both times so we could eat all the sharing plates of Indian food they're serving up at their new site on Denman Street. Not only is the food as good, if not better, than the original site in Brixton but the interiors are some of the most beautiful I've seen in any restaurant. I know I sound like I'm gushing, but honestly, go and visit their Soho restaurant and tell me if you don't think the same....
Our first visit was the launch night. We had a sneak peak of the restaurant and gorged on the non stop mini versions of their signature dishes that were being handed out. Starting, of course, with Keralan Fried Chicken with curry leaf mayo and deep fried curry leaves. Worth a trip for this alone. The chicken is some of the best fried chicken I've ever tasted.
Talli Joe is a new ish restaurant doing Indian half plates and full drinks on the Covent Garden side of Shaftesbury Avenue. I headed there recently to join their PR company and some of my favourite bloggers to test run their menu and learn about the spicing that head chef uses to create the different tapas style dishes. It was such a fun and filling evening and we learnt about the three ways the chef spices dishes - as a dry rub, in poaching liquids or through frying. We sampled as many cocktails as possible from the menu divided into regions that inspire each drink. My favourite was the Holy Basil - made with whisky, basil leaves, grapefruit syrup, tea and prosecco - which was just the right side of bitter whilst being really refreshing.
We also ate as much from the food menu as was humanly possible! My absolute favourite being the truffle ghee kulcha - a naan stuffed with cottage cheese and brushed with a very generous portion of truffle ghee. Other stars of the menu were the Chicken 21, aptly named after the number of attempts it apparently took chef to develop this delicious dish. The Devilled Quail Egg, a scotch egg made with crabmeat, quail's egg and served with tadka mayo, was sublime, as was the Talli Macchi - grilled and spiced red mullet which comes with half an orange that's been soaked in Old Monk rum that you squeeze over the fish. In fact, out of all the many dishes we sampled there wasn't one that I disliked. It's great to have a reliable "tapas" style Indian in the middle of town, where you can get cracking cocktails and really good food at great prices. You can find more info on Talli Joe here.
I feel like I've eaten more Indian and Sri Lankan food in the second half of this year than I've ever eaten before. With multiple visits to one of my new favourites, Kricket, and a few recent visits to the newly opened Hoppers in Soho (review to follow soon), as well as attending the re-launch of The Cinnamon Club back in September and Bombay Brasserie in October, and hosting my very own Indian inspired pop up for Action Aid's work in Syria, it's fair to say there's been a lot of curry in my life! Then a few weeks ago I headed over to Liverpool Street to check out the newly opened Darbaar, which is headed up by Abdul Yaseen who's launched his first solo project after over 10 years at The Cinnamon Club. Darbaar is vast. It has over 200 covers, and takes inspiration from the banquets of the Indian Royal Courts. The restaurant area is grand with a cosy darkness in the evenings, and rows of tables lining the room plus an open kitchen area where you can sit at the bar and look straight in. I love the lights, which looks like big, gold tea flowers, and hang prominently down the middle of the room.
The food at Darbaar is designed to be shared and the menu is made up of small bites (including Keralan shrimp cocktail with coconut), appetisers (king scallops with red cabbage or nawabi chicken pasanda with rock moss, for example), wood fired nanza (paneer bhurji or chilli chicken, caramelised onion and cheddar), the royal pot (a seasonal and hearty preparation, inspired by the dishes which were the iconic sharing feasts of the Royal Court), sides (rice, naans and vegetables) and chef's specials (including baked leg of rabbit on the bone with Rajasthani chilli and corn sauce, and spice crusted sea bass with shrimp and coconut sambal - wow!). Dishes range from £4.50 for small bites to £20 for the more expensive mains choices, though you can also choose the fixed menu - the menu Daawat, which is what we went for and comes in at £35/person for a table of 4 people. You get three 'light' dishes, followed by three 'mains' with sides, and three puddings - all for sharing.
We started with 'hariyali' date and samosa chaat -
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!
I've got such a great restaurant to tell you about today. Last week I popped down to the new-ish (I hadn't been yet, so new to me) food market in Brixton - Pop Brixton. It's nestled in behind Brixton Village and is made up of shipping containers that have been converted into very cool bars, shops and restaurants. Arriving, I was distracted by some beautiful jewellery from a brand called John and Pearl, but the real reason I was there was to try out a restaurant called Kricket. Kricket serves small plates of Indian food and cocktails made using Indian spices and herbs. The kitchen there is run by my godmother's very talented son, and having seen photo after photo of the amazing dishes at Kricket on my Instagram feed it was time for me to taste it first hand. I can't believe I'd waited so long to go (only a couple of months but in hindsight that's a long time) - as the food was utterly divine and I'm already planning a couple of return visits as soon as I'm back from my holiday.
I met caterer extraordinaire, Milli (highly recommended if you need food for weddings or large parties) at the restaurant and we ordered 5 dishes to share between us - they recommend 4 or 5 between 2 people - we obviously went for 5....
Smoked aubergine, labneh, peanut crumble and papdi - a wonderful dish - the aubergine was perfectly smoky and was great with the labneh and papdi crackers. The little pomegranate seeds added a lovely juiciness and extra texture.
