Lotus Restaurant on Charing Cross Road has set itself the
mission of bringing fine Indian dining to the West End. Taking his inspiration
from the huge diversity and vastly varied culinary heritage of the Indian
subcontinent, Chef Bhaskar Banerjee (the Chef and Manager of the restaurant)
wants to create a fresh and luxurious experience for the diner.
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| Chef Bhaskar Banerjee, who guided me through the dishes |
Diners must dismiss all notions of the standard chicken
tikka masala, or the other typical “curry house” dishes and get ready to
embrace something more adventurous, authentic and rewarding. When presented
with the menu, there were so many things I wanted to try; from home style
dishes like your auntie might make for you as a child to sumptuous food fit for
a Maharajah. From simple Indian street vendor dishes to time consuming,
aromatic biryanis cooked in a sealed pot. Faced with a severe case of
indecision, we opted for the five course taster classic menu (£59.75 each
without wine, £109.50 with a paired glass of wine with each course).
Amuse bouche; Mulligatawany
This dish is primarily known in the UK as an Anglo-Indian
soup which is thick and heavy, and flavoured with curry powder. By contrast,
this was a light, fragrant broth, gently spiced with turmeric and coriander.
Because no chilli has been used, the flavours are “spicy”, but without heat.
This allows the lentils and coconut to deliver their warming and soothing
flavours. To me, the soup tasted like a gentle blended sambar, and built up my
anticipation for the dishes to come.
Pappadum
Most pappadums are made from lentil flour, hence their
creamy, off-white colour. These pappadums are made in house which is uncommon,
given how difficult and time consuming the process of making the dried discs
ready for frying, but they are also made from rice flour, potato flour and
finger millet flour. As you can see, the rice and potato pappadums are
completely white and are wafer thin, crispy and exceptionally light. The finger
millet is crunchy, with a satisfying texture and a discernible flavour of its
own. The pappadums were served with three chutneys all made in house. The sweet mango chutney had a lovely balance
of sweet and sour. The mint, chilli and green tomato chutney packed a
delightful punch of heat and herby flavours. The sweet apricot whilst
delivering sugar, had a touch of masala in amongst the fruit.
Pre –starter: Potato chaat
Potato (or aloo) chaat is an Indian street food dish which
deserves to be better known in the UK. “Chaat” is a word which is often used
generically to describe savoury snack foods, particularly sold by street
vendors. The idea behind the dishes is that they are inexpensive, insubstantial
(made of simple, light ingredients) but packed with a veritable riot of flavours; sour,
salty, sweet, spicy and tangy. Often with a little dash of heat.
Here we were
treated to a superb mix of textures, ingredients and flavours; al dente chick
peas, boiled potato slices, tart and tangy tamarind chutney, hot chilli, fresh
coriander leaf, crunchy sev (fried lentil noodles) with a dash of strained
yoghurt to cool and bring everything together. A perfect little pre-starter.
Pre –starter: Gol gappa
Small fried unleavened dough discs are fried, causing them
to puff up into a brittle, crunchy little shell, making the “gol” (little
balls) for this dish, also known as Puris. Gol gappa (also known as either Pani
puri or Phuchka) is another street food classic, which is all about the clash
of contrasting textures…and a flavour explosion which occurs in your mouth!
The very top of the Puri is tapped out, filled here with
corn niblets in chaat masala (a spicy, salty spice mix) with chopped coriander
leaf and very finely diced onion. (More usually the filling is cooked chick
peas and boiled potato cubes). The filled shell is then topped up with Jal
jeera (spicy, sour, cumin flavoured water) and the whole parcel must be
immediately put into your mouth, whole. Making sure your mouth really is
CLOSED, you bite down and there you have it – the big flavour explosion as the
sour, tart, spicy water gives way to crispy crunchy Puri, and as you keep
chewing, the corn brings sweetness and its own texture. This is then followed
by a warming but humane chilli heat. An original spin on a dish which is not
well known in the UK, but loved by curry aficionados.
Starter: Rabbit keema with green peppercorns and Missi roti
A fiery little curry made of rabbit mincemeat served with a
small, buttery, rich hand bread. The soft mince is contrasted by the bite in the
bread. The green peppercorn and chilis combine to create both a deep and a
surface heat, felt in different areas of the mouth and tongue. This dish
disappeared quickly, we were enjoying it so much.
Starter: Cod cheeks, bream and tuna
A trio of fish, battered in semolina and fried, served with
curry and coriander dip. The tuna is the most spiced, as the dense flesh can
take the extra flavours the most. The bream is mild to allow the fish to be
savoured. My favourite was the cod cheek
which was light, delicately spiced and fluffy. These cute little fish morsels
are ungreasy with a good balance of batter to fish. The curry and coriander dip
is a great herby foil for the bhajis.
Starter: Duck sheekh kebab
Very meaty and generous, these kebabs were made from fiery
duck meat, flavoured with ample red chilli, hot but appropriate. The rich,
fatty duck can handle heat very well. Served up with a sweet and fruity sauce
to mellow out the chilli heat. The side serving of delicately home pickled
onion slices has a just-sour flavour which is no too vinegary. As a result, the
combination of contrasting flavours and acidities gives a balanced overall
effect which makes this a highly effective kebab dish, designed to be a precursor course to the mains.
Kebabs: Lamb chops and rump
Marinaded, grilled lamb chops and rump, served with garlic
pickle, Indian onion and chilli salad. Two different cuts of lamb, to give a
very different experience of bite, texture and flavour. Forget cutlery, the
chop just has to be picked up and nibbled to fully enjoy it. The rump is softer
and more delicate. The spicy yoghurt based marinade has a robust heat which
pleased my taste buds but didn’t leave me with a warm glow over my face. The
onion and garlic was exceptionally gently pickled, nothing like our English
pickled onions (which I love), pickled enough to lose the raw harshness, but
not so much that the lamb is overpowered by sour flavours.
Lamb shank with raw papaya pickle
I think that slow cooked whole lamb shank gilded with real gold
leaf is going to become the “must have” dish at Lotus. It is a true
show-stopper. Inspired by the legend of the kitchens cooking for the Raja
(King) of Ranpur in Odisha, Eastern India. The Ranpur Palace was, in its
heyday, the epitome of Indian opulence. Now it is a damp and dilapidated shadow
of its former self. But in its day, food for the Raja, his family and guests
were made using real gold leaf. The principles of Ayurvedic medicine say that
use of gold is to make the warriors, kings and princes strong and battle ready.
Don’t worry, gold is inert, so it won’t do anything strange to your insides.
The lamb is melt in the mouth tender, cooked in a warming
but mild curry sauce. The house made raw papaya pickle gives a touch of
sourness to cut through the richness and to assist digestion. Ridiculously
extravagant, but completely delicious, this was a true highlight of the meal.
Lobster and Queenie with ginger, curry leaf and coconut
curry
“Queenies” are scallops sourced from the Isle of Man. Chef
Bhaskar is keen to use ingredients from India where needed for authenticity of
flavour, but great British ingredients are used wherever possible.
This lobster
and scallop curry is strongly influenced by the seafood cookery of South India,
where coconut milk, cream and oil are used liberally to bring a taste of the
sunshine and tropics to the fruit of the sea. Ginger has always been an apt
flavour partner to seafood, lobster in particular. This is a classy and
restrained dish, full of subtlety.
Vegetable side dishes:
It is often overlooked, but Indian vegetable and vegetarian
cooking is one the best in the world, being full of variety and vibrant tastes.
As part of the classic tasting menu, the vegetable dishes are served up as “sides”,
but they are cracking little dishes which would make fabulous main courses for
vegetarian diners. This is the closest to Indian home cooking that you are
going to get without a kindly epicurean auntie inviting you to her house for
dinner!
The lentils are slow cooked, for over 12 hours. They are
rich, creamy black lentils with just a hint of bite, flavoured with tomatoes.
The Paneer pudina, a dish of paneer cooked with spinach and
mint is stir fried, spiced spinach with soft paneer creating silky, indulgent
textures.
Aubergine with cashew nuts; roasted aubergine, cooked with
curry leaves until smooth and yielding, then mashed up into a paste. Perfect with traditional hand breads.
Green chick pea balls, like curried falafel; grainy on the
outside and both smooth and a little flaky on the inside, small dense and
flavourful in a mild yellow, sophisticated gravy with delicate flavours and
gentle well observed spicing.
Classic potato cubes cooked in tomato, spiced with black
mustard and kalo jeera (onion seed) garnish for a little added bite. These
dishes would have been a good meal in themselves, in truth, but I was getting a
little full and wanted to sample the desserts.
Kheer
Kheer is a traditional Indian rice pudding. It is one of the
tastes of my childhood. When I say it on the menu, it simply had to be ordered
to see how it compares to my memories. It should be very sweet, sweetened with jaggery
(a natural, unrefined sugar product used in Indian food) and can be flavoured
with a variety of wonderful things; saffron, almonds,
raisins, cardamom, cashews or pistachios. This kheer was not as indecently and
cloyingly sweet as some Indian desserts can be, so it is suited to a Western
palate. Aromatic with saffron, sweetened with an almond date jaggery, the
exotic flavours are infused into the milk and rice. The chocolate, made with
parsnip, milk and jaggery is a highly original touch.
Rassomalai
Rassomalai when described,
doesn’t sound like it should work, small balls of homemade fresh unaged cheese,
initially cooked in hot sugar syrup and later in flavoured condensed milk. Food
madness to the unitiated; dessert heaven to those in the know. These were
sophisticated little sweet dumplings served in the “malai” (condensed milk
flavoured with saffron and pistachio) which were airy and fluffy. Sometimes
things can go wrong, but in these safe hands we were in no danger of thick,
syrupy rassomalai, a classic of East Indian cooking. The pineapple raisin chutney
was another original touch; some fruity sour tastes to balance out the sweet;
well observed and executed for Western diners who commonly find Indian desserts
too sweet. A great end to a magnificent meal.
The 5 course classic tasting menu left us feeling extremely
full, happy and satisfied. You get excellent value for money. I will definitely
be coming back to Lotus and would want to have this excellent and highly varied
menu again.
The wine flight is generous with a 125ml glass of wine with
each course, paired with skill to match either the key ingredient or level of
spice of the dish. The Head Sommelier at
Lotus is Debbie Henriques, who was previously at Claridges and Hotel du Vin.
She has done a fabulous job with the pairings. Wine and curry can be tricky to
pair, particularly with the dishes packing heat. Why not push the boat out on a
special occasion?
I want to say something about the a la carte menu for the
sceptic. This menu will appear to be more expensive than your local Indian
restaurant. However, that is not the proper comparison to make. Here, the
dishes are original, authentically flavoured, made freshly with premium
ingredients. Were you to compare with one of London’s high end Indian
restaurants, you would find that the five course classic tasting menu
represents very good value for money. This is food which takes skill to prepare
and cook and takes time. There is a theatre menu, which I would suggest makes
this a great place to have a great quality meal in conjunction with a show,
rather than going to one of the cheap chain or tourist trap restaurants in and
around Leicester Square.
I am looking forward to returning to Lotus, which deserves
to be recognised as one of the top 10 best Indian restaurants in London.
Snigdha and her dining partner dined as guests of Lotus.
Snigdha has not received any form of incentive, financial or otherwise for
posting this review. This review represents Snigdha’s honest impressions of the
restaurant.
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