Name: Lotus
Address: 17 Charing Cross Road, London, Trafalgar Square, WC2H 0EP, UK
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7839 8797
Rating: 9

It would be easy to walk past this restaurant dismissing it as “just another Indian” – particularly as it is right next to just another Indian restaurant. But it is a fantastic place with a modern interior, super-friendly staff and astonishing food.

This area is full of fast food joints and pop-in places for a quick bite. But Lotus is a destination whether you are out for an evening meal with business colleagues or friends and family. They will be impressed. And I am sure that Lotus will soon be hugely popular.

The décor is minimalist – there are subtle grey/black Paisley-like textures, dark bevelled mirrors and textured grey wood on the walls. The tables and chairs are modern with clean, no-nonsense lines. I loved all the flatware too – sleek white china designs in rectangles and smooth curves. They framed the beautifully presented food (lots of banana leaf strips) well. And darling tiny pots and spoons for chutneys. Not a metal dish in sight.

I was told that the highly experienced chefs – from top establishments all over India – specialise in taking local ingredients and cooking them in a modern Indian style. So you’re not faced with that chicken or lamb dilemma. The vegetarians have plenty of options too.

They have a lovely Spanish sommelier who knows the menu extremely well and is happy to make suggestions about which wines will go with each dish. She chose well for us.

Like many upmarket restaurants, Lotus provides some (free) amuse bouche. For example, the tiny cups of spicy tomato broth (rawsam) we sampled had a fierce, rich meaty flavour.

The menu is split into starters, skewers and mains. Some people have skewers as starters and others have them as mains. We were lucky enough to be able to sample a variety of dishes.

We shared some corn chaat golgappa (£3.75) – crispy little shells containing sweetcorn, onions and fresh herbs into which we tipped some of the spicy, coriander watery juice before eating them quickly to avoid them collapsing. It was a mouthful of crisp, crunchy freshness – it made us think of lush green grass. There were three finger rice, potato and millet poppadums (£2.75) with three chutneys – the mint in one was strong and fresh but backed up with a fierce chilli kick.

My companion chose the pigeon masala dosa (£7.75) to start. The dosa was arranged as a cute cone on top of a rich sauce containing small nuggets of pigeon that were cooked perfectly. The accompanying coconut chutney went down well. He had a glass of Shiraz. But I was the winner here as I opted for the red snapper kebab which had been marinated in a mustard essence, dressed with a little cress and with a gram and dill yoghurt topped with almonds (£12.75). The creamy, strong Chenin Blanc complimented the firm but moist sizeable piece of fish.

With regards to main courses, we both felt we struck out and had the dish of the evening. My companion couldn’t stop complimenting his venison rogan josh (£18.75) with comments like “the knife glides through the meat” and “this sauce is amazingly rich”. The red colour was achieved with the bark of a tree rather than tomatoes.

But my soft shell crabs cafreal (£18.75) – a dish of Goan origin - was truly astonishing. Three whole crabs, cooked so that the outside was a little crispy while the inside was tender and moist, were marvellous. I was also entranced by the aroma and taste of the Indian lemon. I almost didn’t bother with the metal basket of tiny matchstick chips and slithers of pickled turmeric.

To consider the vegetarian options, we also tried Dal Maa Dumpukth (£5.75) – black lentils that have cooked for over 12 hours with garlic, tomato, butter and cream. And an aubergine dish that would make Greek men weep – Baghare Baigan Bharta (£6.75) which had a creamy consistency and tasted better than any aubergine I have ever eaten anywhere.

We had eaten way too much to be able to sample the desserts so we didn’t dare take a peek at that menu. But we had fun in the bathrooms (decorated in an interesting orange glass and dramatic black/white marble) with the Dyson washer/driers. I also noticed that some fellow diners were offered a doggie bag at the end of their meal – that’s one very lucky dog!

The food really is something special here. And whilst a seasoned curry eater would recognise many of the dishes, they will be intrigued and delighted with the modern twists. I think some of my foodie friends would be impressed too. And whilst some dishes look a bit pricey, for the quality of the cooking, ingredients, presentation, service and ambience both me and my companion thought it was very good value for money.

PS My companion is STILL raving about his rogan josh and we are still arguing over who had the best dish. I plan to return soon to taste those soft shell crabs again.

Lotus

Lotus Picture Gallery

All In London Review

User Reviews