The food of the Indian sub-continent that is served up in London is often inauthentic and formulaic. However, there are an increasing number of eateries breaking free from the shackles of tikka masala to offer more interesting fare. Here are three of them.
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| Samosa chaat |
Brixton Village's
Elephant styles itself as a purveyor of authentic Pakistani street food and its short menu certainly hits the spot. A starter of
samosa chaat, with its abundance of chickpeas, would do as a light meal in itself.
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| Vegetarian thali |
For something more substantial, I recommend going for a thali. I liked my
vegetarian thali so much that I actually forgot that cauliflower is on my list of
verboten veg! Drawbacks? The naan was a tad anaemic but I can forgive them this given the limitations of the tiny kitchen.
Elephant, 55 Granville Parade, Brixton Village Market, Coldharbour Lane, London SW9 8PS
Nearest station: Brixton (BR, Victoria Line)
Next stop is Isleworth where I enjoyed a fantastic meal at the
Cinnamon Lounge. I can't take credit, though, for uncovering this gem. All the kudos must go to the Mysterious Mrs A who put her foot down when her hubby (my old mate) El Greco wanted to go to a bog-standard curry house.
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| Chicken methi, jeera rice & garlic naan |
The great thing about this restaurant is that they consign many of the 'curry house standards' to the back of the menu. Instead they focus on starters such as
machli amritsari (fish fillets with ajwain) and mains like
murgh kalimirch (a black pepper based chicken curry).
The consensus around the table was that there wasn't a single duff dish. But don't take my word for it; much of the clientele was south Asian including a fair sprinkling of matriarchs who are notoriously hard to please.
Cinnamon Lounge, 181 Twickenham Road, Isleworth, Middlesex, TW7 6AB
(Tel: 020-8560-8995) Nearest station: Isleworth (BR)
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| Salaam Namaste |
One could also be forgiven that Bloomsbury's
Salaam Namaste was a run-of-the-mill joint especially as it serves a lunch buffet. However, scratch beneath the service and the à la carte yields many a delight. From the specials board, the
duck kebab was a winner as was the
spicy soft shell crab from the regular menu. Onto the mains and there are unusual choices like
wild rabbit achari and
narangi duck. My personal favourite is the
Goan green chicken curry and my friend enjoyed his
Keralan monkfish curry.
Salaam Namaste, 68 Millman St, London, WC1N 3EF (Tel: 020-7405-3697)
Nearest station: Russell Square (Piccadilly Line)
