Chettinad South Indian restaurant - London

This post is part of our London March 2014 city-trip

We selected Chettinad due to its proximity to our hotel (Radisson Blu Edwardian Bloomsbury Street) and the great reviews it has been receiving.

Rassam with its pappadum

Masala dosa

Group photo of our 2 mains and rice dish

Chettinadu aadu - excellent lamb curry !

Avial - concoction of fresh vegetables in a thick gravy
Coconut rice

Rasmalai - cottage cheese dumplings in an excellent cardamom flavored milk
Kesari bhath - semolina pudding cooked with butter and raisins and cashews

Chettinad is a small casual restaurant with a fairly-priced menu. Service was very good, with a friendly owner/manager and the food was excellent. Highly recommended!

Chettinad London
http://chettinadrestaurant.com/

Quilon Indian restaurant - London

This post is part of our London March 2014 city-trip

Quilon has one Michelin star and offers a set-lunch menu available everyday. This lunch was to catch up with an old friend, so only a few photos were taken since we were too busy chatting. 

Papadums and selection of chutneys/dips

Starters: Cauliflower chilli fry and pepper shrimps

After the starters, we were offered some Rasam (South Indian soup with tamarind) served in small wine glasses. Our mains were chicken dishes, which were somewhat underwhelming with barely any chicken cubes. Disappointing for such a highly rated restaurant.

Instead of dessert, we picked the delicious masala chai, served with a chocolate.

Compared to the excellent dinner we had at Trishna the previous evening, this meal was quite a disappointment. Oh well, not all South Indian Michelin starred restaurants are created equal...

Quilon
http://www.quilon.co.uk/

Trishna Indian restaurant - London

This post is part of our London March 2014 city-trip 

Trishna Indian restaurant has one Michelin star. After a busy day of shopping, we took a quick walk from Oxford Street to reach Trishna (it's actually less than 10 minutes walk from Selfridges or Bond Street tube station)

We selected their set menu with four courses. Since there were 2 options for each course, we ordered everything on the menu except the plain basmati rice.

Some Papadums and chutneys to whet our appetite

First course:

Haldi chipirones (baby squid, turmeric, fennel seed, samphire, mango ginger)

 

Aloo chat (potato, masala chickpea, tamarind, sweet yoghurt)

Second course

Paneer tikka (paneer, fenugreek leaf, corn, green mango chat)

Duck seekh kebab (green chilli, onion, spiced pineapple chutney)

Third course

Khumb (mushroom) biryani with cucumber black pepper raita
Kori gassi (chicken drumsticks with Mangalorean spices and coconut)
Served with Hyderabadi Dal, Aloo Udaigiri and bread basket

Dessert

Cardamom kheer (with fig and raisin, sprinkled with pistachio)

Chocolate chikki cake (pista-cashew tikki) with a scoop of Peanut Jaggery ice cream

Finally two sweets were brought along with the check, a chocolaty twist on the fennel seeds offered in many Indian restaurants.

 

We loved our dinner at Trishna!


Trishna Restaurant London
http://www.trishnalondon.com/

Kitchen W8 - London

This post is part of our London March 2014 city-trip

Kitchen W8 is a small Michelin starred restaurant in Kensington. We tried their set dinner menu on Friday evening.

 

Here's a corner of the dining room just before it started filling up. The place does get rather noisy once it's full.

As amuse-bouche, we were offered some bit-sized cod fritters.

Afterwards bread (white or brown) were served along with butter.

There were 2 options for each course, so we selected everything on the set menu.

Starters

Velouté of wild garlic with Parmesan dumplings, white asparagus and morels

Caramelised lamb sweetbreads with thinly sliced smoked eel, broad beans, mint and parmesan

Mains

Poached Cornish haddock with seaweed butter, cauliflower, brown shrimps, capers and raisins

Breast and leg of spring chicken with confit cepes, lettuce and peas

Cheese or dessert

Aged Comté with fruit chutney and hazelnut bread

Chocolate pudding with salt caramel ice cream and caramelised banana

Unfortunately there was no mignardise but overall, it was a nice dinner offering very good value for money.

Kitchen W8

http://www.kitchenw8.com