A jewel in the Crown

It may be National Curry Week until 18th October but not all Indian restaurants are curry houses.

Recently, I was lucky enough to be invited for lunch at Quilon restaurant. This fine Indian restaurant is definitely not your typical local curry house: I quickly understood why it was awarded a Michelin star in 2008 and has retained it since then.

Located between St James’ Park and Victoria, Quilon serves South-West coastal Indian cuisine.  The décor is quite modern and sleek whilst warm and inviting with extensive use of dark wood: you are transported in the warmth and depth of Indian culture and cuisine without being overwhelmed with traditional decorative references.

And this progressive stance is also reflected in 
reflected in the original approach of the award-winning chef to Indian cuisine:  successfully blending the roots and flavours of Indian traditions with modern tastes and cooking techniques, the menu focuses on seafood while also serving excellent meat, poultry and vegetarian dishes.

We had the opportunity to try the tasting menu. What a journey of flavours, herbs and spices! I personally like spices as they add character and depth to a dish but I must admit I am usually not a big fan of very hot food. As soon as the appetisers arrived, I discovered the explosion of
flavours was more about the quality, subtlety

and mix of the spices used than about the strength. In the assortment of dips, some were significantly hotter than what I usually eat, but they were so full of deep and tangy flavours of lemon, mint, coriander, etc., that I could not really stop dipping…

The rest of the menu then brought us from succulent stuffed quail legs (with brown onion, chilli, ginger, spices and served with mustard) to a soft-as-a-feather coconut chicken breast, from a surprisingly light and cleansing spiced lentil broth to a deliciously indulgant layered bread with pure ghee (Indian clarified butter), from an assortment of tasty vegetables to comforting tomato- and lemon-flavoured rice… And not to mention one of their signature dishes, the beautiful melt-in-the-mouth baked black cod!

The desserts did not let us down either: the pistachio cake with melted black sesame fondant, the hot vermicelli kheer (creamy hot vermicelli pudding served with rose ice cream), and the chocolate and hazelnut praliné cake flavoured with cardamom and coconut, are equally delicious and surprising.

I already liked Indian cuisine before, but Quilon has definitely showed me new flavour horizons.

Quilon restaurant
41 Buckingham Gate
London SW1E 6AF
020 7821 1899

For more on Indian cuisine in the UK, read also the ‘East meets West: Britain’s curry quest’ article in the September-October issue of FOCUS Magazine.


Written by Aude Eyraud. Aude is FOCUS Director of Marketing.

For more information about FOCUS, visit: www.focus-info.org