Address: 10 Lincoln Street, Chelsea, London SW3 2TS
WWW:
http://www.rasoi-uk.com/
Summary: Elegant and delicious Indian food, served in a great ambiance
We found this restaurant in the book
"Quiet London" by Siobhan Wall. This was our first ever Michelin-starred Indian restaurant, and we were rather curious about it.
The owner Vineet Bhatia, says in their webpage:
‘I came to London with nothing but ambition and love of Indian food”
And that ambition and love you can feel in every bite.
We were a party of three and chose our dishes from the lunch menu. Each of us ordered two items (one main and one dessert), and were warned that this may be a too light lunch by our waiter. To tell the truth, we ordered one more savory dish not because we were hungry but we were greedy to have more of what they do so brilliantly here.
Our journey started with a nice amuse bouche, compliment of the chef. The idli was good, but we were excited more with that dollop of sweet and spicy sauce it was served with. It came together with a cold mint lemonade. Very very very tasty and it nicely cleansed our palate for our mains.
Two of us ordered the same main: Tandoori malai paneer, Bombay pav bhaji, sev
The pav bjahi had layers of flavors, starting first sweet and then ending nicely spicy. We were amazed how well designed each dish was - each bite had a different effect - crunchy from the tiny thin noodles, then the milky paneer, ending with a spice sensation of pav bhaji (apparently a Bombay street food).
Steve went for a meat dish: Tomato-olive chicken, chicken cigaroll, dahi bhalla
Looked absolutely gorgeous. He enjoyed his chicken and cigaroll immensely but was not a big fan of dahi bhalla. For us, the cardamom taste in it was a joy.
We also ordered: Crushed samosa chaat with yoghurt and tamarind chutney, tangy chickpeas.
It turned out to be the best dish! And, we were so happy that greed took us over.
Finally the desserts: Chocolate samosa, chocolate caramelised nut delice, Slow cooked glazed carrot fudge, smoked cardamom set milk, Dark chocolate-rasmalai & white chocolate-malai kulfi
So elegantly presented, ever so tasty - I think it was the best ever carrot fudge I tasted. We accompanied everything with a glass of rose but Steve had an Indian red wine. While we were skeptical that the Indian wine may not deliver, it was again a pleasant beautiful surprise, and the rose drinkers regretted their decision.
This is absolutely a gem, very nice cozy setting - the dining rooms are parts of a victorian house. The serving staff is ever helpful, with suggestions, and the speed of service. Shame we cannot afford it every day (even the lunch), but would love to come here again for another special occasion.
