On a mild Saturday evening in London, I followed the host down the stairs to the bustling communal table at Kricket in Soho, one of three branches in the city, to meet a friend. A playlist of Bollywood hits and certified chart-toppers from the early 2000s filled the restaurant, opened in 2015 by Will Bowlby and Rik Campbell, as plates landed on the table: crispy Keralan fried chicken with perfect circles of pickled radishes and crispy curry leaves, a sweet-savory kulcha filled with dates and pistachios that could easily pass as a baklava-like pastry, a comforting khichdi of smoked haddock and an explosion of corn kernels, and a thick slice of paneer swimming in a creamy, tomato-spiced mala sauce. The diverse menu drew inspiration from across India: the fried chicken hailed from the south, the paneer from the north; the khichdi united the flavors of several states. Other dishes had their origins in the coastal state of Goa or the street food traditions of Mumbai.
It was a welcome and surprising departure from the cuisine previously served in downtown London’s Indian restaurants. Although no one would admit it, the options had been, let’s be frank, a bit uninspiring for several decades. Guests were caught between endless platters of chicken tikka masala and stacks of onion bhaji at their local British curry house or the elaborate presentation, excessively opulent decor, and exorbitant prices at upscale “contemporary” Indian restaurants in posh neighborhoods like Mayfair and Chelsea. Indian restaurants have been in London since the opening of the Hindoostane Coffee House in 1810. The city’s first Indian fine dining restaurant, Veeraswamy, opened in 1926 (and is still open today), but modernization progressed slowly. Most restaurants either focused on Anglo-Indian dishes or specialties from northern India, such as tandoori chicken, samosas, and naan.
Then in 2010, a restaurant called Dishoom opened its doors in Covent Garden. Inspired by the Irani cafes in Mumbai, Dishoom embraced a much more casual atmosphere, lower prices, and a menu that moved away from the curry house classics, offering creative dishes like the now-iconic bacon naan roll for breakfast and gunpowder potatoes and chili cheese toast for dinner. The restaurant, opened by cousins Shamil and Kavi Thakrar, became even more famous for its hours-long queues. The success of Dishoom gave others permission to build eateries that were more accessible, ushering in a new wave of Indian restaurants in downtown London celebrating regional Indian cuisine – and not afraid to have a clear point of view
Like Kricket, many of the new generation of Indian restaurants explore pan-Indian cuisine, drawing inspiration, flavors, and techniques from across the country. This approach is also embraced at Gunpowder, opened by Harneet and Devina Baweja in 2015. Here, grilled Goan shrimp share the table with pulled duck from Chettinad served with uttapam, a crispy rice-lentil pancake from the southern Indian states, and a side of hard-boiled eggs in a spiced tomato sauce, a staple in northern Indian cuisine. (The restaurant now has three locations: in Spitalfields, Tower Bridge, and Soho.)
At Pahli Hill, opened in Fitzrovia in 2020, Chef Avinash Shashidhara effortlessly switches between khakhra, a crispy flatbread popular in the western state of Gujarat, to thin dosas and sambar from the south, to crispy fried squid drawing influence from Puducherry, a former French colony. The Tamil Prince, a new pub in a quiet residential area of Islington opened in 2022, showcases the same ease, serving puffy, deep-fried bread called bhatura and channa, a spiced chickpea dish beloved in northern India, alongside Thanjavur chicken curry cooked with tomatoes, curry leaves, and spices, a dish from the southern state of Tamil Nadu. A visit to Jikoni, opened by chef Ravinder Bhogal in 2016 in Marylebone, is also worthwhile. It’s one of the few female-led Indian restaurants in London, and Bhogal draws her inspiration not only from regional Indian cuisine but also from the African diaspora, serving a cup of Kenyan chai with dishes like paan-madeleines, the buttery cookies infused with the flavor of the betel leaf-like dessert.
The new generation of Indian restaurants also heavily focuses on the cuisine of a single region of India or its diasporas. One of the finest examples is Fatt Pundit, opened in 2019, specializing in Indo-Chinese cuisine – a cuisine that blends Indian flavors with Chinese ingredients and cooking techniques rooted in Kolkata. Here, momos steam to the table, filled with tender chopped chicken and plenty of onions or with a satisfying mix of spinach, mushrooms, zucchini, and tofu. Best accompanied by a serving of soft-shell crab prepared with plenty of sweet corn and Szechuan peppercorns, and a tray of Hakka chili lettuce wraps, encompassing a sweet-salty-spicy filling of diced paneer sautéed with plenty of shallots and soy sauce.
Hoppers, which opened its first branch in 2015, has seen great success with South Indian and Sri Lankan specialties such as the eponymous hoppers (savory baskets made of rice flour and coconut milk), snacks like murukku (spiral snacks made of fried chickpea flour), and a variety of dosas, including one with chilies and melted cheese. Chourangi, opened in 2021 in Marylebone, is dedicated to exploring the flavors of Kolkata in a beautiful and sleek dining space. The restaurant doesn’t hold back, serving plates of pickled hilsa, a small herring-like fish that’s a staple of Bengali home cooking, and bowls of kosha mangsho, a Bengali lamb dish cooked with fragrant whole spices. Bengali staples also feature on the menu at Darjeeling Express by Chef Asma Khan, originally opened from 2017 to 2020 and reopened in February 2023. Here, Khan is determined to give due prominence to regional Indian cuisine, through dishes like the creamy prawn dish malaikari and bhapa doi, a steamed yogurt dessert that’s almost cheesecake-like.
If there’s one thing uniting the chefs behind all these restaurants, it’s their endeavor to redefine Anglo-Indian cuisine, moving it away from its colonial roots and putting local ingredients and playful variations of classic British dishes at the forefront. Khan proudly uses British turnips in several dishes on her menu. BiBi, opened in Mayfair in 2021, describes itself as “contemporary Indian flavor, exceptional British produce.” The restaurant collaborates with farmers across the United Kingdom for its produce, meat, and seafood, highlighting Devon scallops, Swaledale lamb in its bara kebab, and local rhubarb in its kanji, a soothing rice porridge. Even the charcoal used for grilling at the restaurant comes from sustainable sources on the coast. At Pahli Hill, you’ll find produce like purple artichokes and proteins like Hampshire ribs and Scottish langoustines featured throughout the menu
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