Being new doesn’t necessarily mean that they are lacking in experience of course. On the contrary, the head chef Sabir Karim has had over 20 years of restaurant experience working for the likes of Chutney Mary, Red Fort and British Airways. Plus, this is the second restaurant from Karim and his team – the first being Salam Namaste in Bloomsbury.
But that’s just the research talking – I’ve never been to Salam Namaste, and with my fair share of average Indians under the belt, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Certainly the long trek to Camden wasn’t doing it any favours.
Having been presented with the first course – an amuse bouche sized plate where one side is salmon on some sort of crispy blini and the other is a lamb shish wrap, I was beginning to warm to the restaurant. “The starter’s a bit small” I thought, “but it tastes good”. Plus, the dips served with the poppadoms as a prelude to the first course had been positively divine.
But the real starter put me firmly into my place. In essence, we were getting to try the entire starter menu and that menu wasn’t small. On each serving plate was a small selection of starters, like the Tandoori Portobello mushroom, in miniature. The rest of the starters were served on bigger plates to share – I suppose you can’t really shrink those spicy soft shell crabs without getting premature baby crabs.
Trying all the subtly different blends of spices was like taking my taste buds on an assault course, in a good way. And the Pinot Grigio we drank held its own remarkably well. I certainly can’t complain about the lack of choice, and for once the spread is definitely bigger than both my eyes and my stomach can handle. That said, I did glance over at the next table to see what they’re eating – lamb shank in a pie of some sort.
With an afternoon of meetings lined up, dessert still beckoning and no room to spare, it was time to throw back the last of that Pinot and make my excuses. Next time, I will be bringing my spare stomach and an empty schedule.