Evening Standard
David Ellis visited the latest venture from Rohit Ghai, who made his name as founding chef at Jamavar and his since opened Kutir and Manthan in his own name. David was puzzled to find no trace of the ‘vibrant and diverse ecosystems of the Himalayas’ promised on the restaurant’s website: instead, he encountered a pretty standard if upmarket contemporary Indian operation on three floors, with a dining room that managed to be both “clubby” and “romantic” while at the same time lacking in atmosphere (‘vatavaran’ in Sanskrit) – surely a contradictory trio.
As for the food, David thought much of it was “excellent – Ghai is not only an accomplished chef but an assured one” – with such highlights as “cashmere soft” lamb chops; “addictive” fried prawns; lobster in ginger and fennel-heavy Nilgiri sauce; and buttery black lentil dal which “we ate greedily, as if starved”.
There were disappointments, too, such as an “indifferent” duck dish and scallops in a “grey puddle of who-knows-what, not improved by the black truffle shaved at the table” – the tuber shavings, by some unexplained mishap, ending up on poor David’s lap
David Ellis - 2024-11-24
