Tis Me Michelle

I have a hard time translating Indian words spelled out in English in my mind. Well, I can’t read or write the Indian language I speak, Malayalam. I understand and speak well enough, but out of context, my context switching isn’t fast enough. So of course when I first found this spot online during my research, I read out in the most American accent it didn’t click. Upon a Google, I found out it was a Hindi word. And even in my family’s language, it means journey, And who loves a journey more than me… This was my first food journey during my journey in London. And boy oh boy did I have a hell of a food journey in London. I went all out.

Well, that random rant intro. Let’s get into it. I went for the tasting menu, the non-veg option, which I believe switches up a bit from time to time. It was a 6-course meal, and I definitely overestimated my appetite, but I was living out my foodie dreams. I’m going to start with my highlights, which were essentially the beginning and end of my meal.

I started off with a ‘crispy basket of chaat’. I love me a samosa chaat which my cousins put me on just a few years ago. This was basically the appetizer and was a one-bite samosa chaat. I loved the flavors and the crispiness of the basket, it was a delight. I would have happily had several more of these. The meal ended with a carrot halwa cheesecake with pistachio ice cream. I’m always here for pistachio ice cream and the cheesecake was great too. I was beyond full by this point, but I planned things to make space for dessert.

So the actual meal items. I loved the idea behind it all and enjoyed the variety of things. There were elements of all of these that I enjoyed, but I will caveat that pretty much all of these savory dishes leaned very salty for my palate. First up was a Charred Prawn, which was essentially a tandoori jumbo shrimp. It was yummy, but I will say it was difficult to eat gracefully in a ‘fancy’ restaurant.

Next up was a Togarashi Scallop with Coconut Butter and Citrus Podi. This was presented nicely on a seashell and also really hit the flavors of my family meals. I have a weird thing with curry leaves. I get that it’s in a lot of the food, especially my family makes (I even have like 3 or 4 curry leaves growing at my house), but I don’t actually enjoy biting into it. That flavor was a bit overwhelming in this dish.

The third course was a Roasted Beetroot Cutlet and Fennel & Green Apple Yoghurt. This one was super inventive and blew my mind a bit. It was a unique way to present the flavors and ingredients of a masala dosa. I did enjoy this one and the yoghurt was a refreshing side.

Side note: isn’t it crazy that as the meal progresses it gets heavier? How does that make sense, I won’t have any capacity by then! Onto the second half of the ‘meal’. The next course was Grilled Blue Cheese Chicken Tikka with Barberry Chutney. The chicken was cooked very well and had another refreshing side.

This was followed by the main event, I was able to choose between ‘Slow Cooked Goat Osso Bocu, Tumeric & Ginger Sauce’ or ‘Black Garlic Marinated Grilled Venison, Venison Keema, Artichoke Puree, Creamy Layered Potato, Spiced Red Wine Jus’. I think the ladder was an additional cost, and I opted for the Osso Bocu. This came with rice, naan, and daal mahkani. It was a full-ass meal. I tried it fresh and it was good, but heavy, and my limits had been reached. I asked to have it packed, which was met with hesitancy because there was a bit more left. But I just wanted this packed. I didn’t want to waste it, but I wanted to continue forth.

The last ‘course’ was Sea Buckthorn Sorbet. I have no idea what that is, but this was before the dessert I mentioned earlier. It looked and tasted like a palate cleanser that I needed after all the heaviness. The sea portion of this was foamy with exactly that texture. It was refreshing. And that was that.

On the menu, it mentioned ‘Petit Fours’ which I never got. After my dessert, I was given my bill and I didn’t ask about it. Part of me is like I could not handle any more food. However, this wasn’t a cheap meal and I would have liked to be given everything I paid for… So just slightly bitter about that.

The service was good, aside from the awkwardness around asking for takeaway which they did ultimately do. They were very timely and similar to the other bougie restaurants that I went to, the way my table was cleaned and cleared was very on point.

I wanted to love this experience especially for the price, but also because of all the hype around Indian food in London. It was a fun experience, and there were some highlights throughout the meal. Overall, if you want an experience to try a bunch of things, go for it! I’d probably recommend trying the a la carte menu or the more affordable lunch set menu to try out a couple things.

Rating: 6.7/10