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A few
weeks ago the area around Kingston and Sunbury upon Thames welcomed a
new Indian restaurant with open arms.
Situated in Sunbury on Thames
just by the picturesque River Thames, Indian Zest is the second of
top chef Manoj Vasaikar's restaurants,
this time in conjunction with top front of house man Bhanu
Pratap.
The restaurant is very unusual
being in an old building full of character complete with car park
alongside. The décor is Raj style somewhat reminiscent of
Tamasha in Bromley, with dark wood panelling and old pictures of
Indian scenes on the walls.
The first thing that strikes you
as you walk in with the amazing old Rajasthani door and its two
wooden guards on your left is the atmosphere. It is one of style and
almost exquisite service unfortunately not seen in too many
establishments nowadays.
We were guided to our table with
just the right amount of deference and immediately brought the menu
and wine list. The latter is short but perfectly adequate and very
well priced as is everything at Indian Zest. Then came that touch of
special service that I have been banging on about for so many years.
Not so much an "amuse bouche" but more a mark of
"namaste" or welcome. This came in the form of a rasam - a
small glass of a warm, welcoming concoction, in this instance carrot
and broccoli.
The olde worlde atmosphere
immediately puts one at ease and we could see the same effect on
customers around us. The menu devised by Manoj is not huge but
manages to offer something for almost everyone from the 19 main
courses, plus thalis and a biryani.
The star of our starters was a
Paneer samosa with beans and lentils and the right amount of zest to
emphasise its origins. I had A Prawn and Aubergine Kharpatia served
on a banana leaf as were all the starters and the rich sauce was
positively mouthwatering.
For main course I tried Ghatti
Lamb which is a spicy, robust dish from the Sahyadri Ranges redolent
in pounded herbs and black pepper. Others tried the Chicken Moravana
with its fenugreek gravy and Mevaari Chicken with fenugreek leaf and
Indian spinach and both were declared exceptional especially in view
of the fact that most dishes were priced at just £7.A Chana
Masala and perfectly cooked basmati rice made up the meal.
Everything exuded style ; the
mouthwatering food ; the elegant service, the cane,basketweave chairs
and wooden flooring. Undoubtedly something special for an area that
has been crying out for for a long time. The fact that diners began
to stream in as sat enjoying our meal suggested that the word had
already gone round and I think we are looking at an area favourite
destination restaurant.
Full marks and the experience
certainly added "zest " to our evening.
Visit their website at http://www.indianzest.co.uk/ |
