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After a
four-year absence from the restaurant business, renowned Indian
restaurateur and chef Manju Choudhury is back in the kitchen at his
new flagship restaurant Café Zia. Over the years Manju, along
with his brother and business partner, Mosru Choudhury, has been at
the helm of over 20 restaurants dotted throughout south London and
Surrey but in 2002 he decided to take a break and sold up his empire.
For the next 2
years Choudhury embarked on a culinary sabbatical that took him
across the many different regions of India where he sampled the wide
variety of sublime dishes, ingredients, spices and flavours. Manju
has taken many of the culinary influences he experienced during his
travels and cleverly translated them into a range of stunning dishes
that make up the Café Zia menu.
Situated on
Clapham/ Battersea borders and close to Lavender Hill, Café
Zia is quickly becoming a destination for London's discerning Indian
restaurant goers and a sure fire hit with the locals. The 100-cover
restaurant has a winning combination of exceptional cooking,
attentive service, contemporary design and excellent value. There is
also a take away service that stretches over a four-mile radius of London.
Café
Zia's exceptional menu is a collaboration between Manju Choudhury and
his Head Chef Govinder Prasad-Gurung who joins Café Zia after
ten years as Head Chef at the original branch of Bombay Bicycle Club
in Battersea. The menu has something for every diner and features a
wide range of stunning vegetarian dishes. These include, to start,
Vegetable pakora - Courgettes, potatoes, mushrooms and onion rings
lightly battered and served with raita; Vegetable samosas - Folded
filo pastry parcels deep fried and stuffed with spiced seasonal
market vegetables or Onion Bhajee served with freshly made chutney.
For meat lovers there is a range of light and delicate starters,
which include tender Tandoori lamb cutlets marinated in herbs and
spices; Tandoori mixed grill - A selection of succulent pieces of
chicken, lamb and king prawn marinated in herbs and spices and cooked
in the tandoor, and Lamb tikka - Tender fillets of lamb marinated and
cooked in the tandoor. For the seafood option, choose from Zinga
Ratan - King prawns served with butter, garlic, parsley, white wine
and finished with cream; Scallops Ajwani - succulent scallops
marinated in mild spice, grilled in the tandoor with caraway seeds
and onion and served with a mint chutney; Zinga Nawabi, succulent
tiger prawns marinated in mild northern spices and gently cooked in
the tandoor.
For main
courses choose from a wide selection of Choudhury's house specials
which include Bhuna gosht khybari - Tender lamb flavoured with a hint
of coriander and ginger cooked in a garlic and onion sauce; Chicken
aishwarya - slices of tender butter chicken breast marinated in lemon
and methi leaf and cooked in a rich almond sauce, or Mala king prawns
- King prawns simmered in wine, garlic and almond sauce. All main
courses can be ordered with a selection of scented rice and vegetable
dishes and a tempting range of freshly cooked Indian breads. To
finish, there is a good list of soothing ice creams, sorbets and
yoghurt based desserts. The wine list has been handpicked by the
Choudhury brothers to perfectly complement this exceptional food offering.
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