The Observer
Rebecca Nicholson checked out this summer’s second opening from Birmingham-based Aktar Islam, following hot on the gilded heels of Oudh 1722 in London: Kush is more accessible price-wise and, she speculated, could be the first of a mini-chain.
The food was “big-bodied, full-flavoured, not at all prissy, the sort of indulgent feast that will make you daydream of opening a trouser button or two on the way home”. The best dish was liver fry with uthappam – “light, bubbly fermented rice cakes, flecked with gems of tomato and red onion… to mop up a pile of soft chicken livers, soaked in a mighty, oily, chilli-fuelled tomato-based curry.”
Kadai paneer (“vividly spiced lumps of cheese and pepper delivering a proper veggie hit”), a creamy, slow-cooked black bean dal makhani and a bright green garlicky spinach and sweetcorn palak were also good. But a Mangalorean prawn curry in a slightly acrid tomato and coconut sauce was a “real disappointment”, and service was disjointed throughout – “clearly Kush is still finding its feet”.
Rebecca Nicholson - 2026-08-09
