An Indian Sunday Roast might sound a little strange, but Nick finds it’s absolutely delicious, but you will need to loosen your belt.

Kokum is a great Indian restaurant and not just because it’s just twenty minutes drive from me in what used to be called East Dulwich, a place I’ve always thought of as West Peckham, but I’m not an estate agent.

Of course the area is actually genuinely gentrified now. When we went in on Sunday there were tables of nice young couples entertaining their parents up from the shires (dad in pink trousers and gilet, mum looking a bit uncomfortable), couples with small, bored children (do kids actually like Indian food?), gay men giving IKEA a miss (because of hangovers) and us, cynical boomers.

We like it, coming from the depths of Streatham it’s nice to go to a postcode with some class.

The Sunday lunch menu is very simple. Pick any starter you like from the a la carte and then one of the four roasts – chicken, lamb, fish or veg. We actually made a mistake having starters, though.

Not because they were bad, quite the opposite, but when the mains arrived in all their massive glory we realised we were in for a struggle. The starters we went for were Amritsari fish with mint and coriander chutney, and a Samosa Chaat which is one of my favourite things, a mix of crushed samosa, chickpeas, sweet yoghurt, mint and coriander chutney and tamarind chutney. So very, very good.

And then came our roasts, each on a giant platter. The sides were the same on both – spiced roast potatoes, tandoori cauliflower, spiced carrots, kale and some naans. In the centre was nihari gravy sauce for the lamb and a makhani sauce for the chicken>

My half chicken was superb, marinated in garlic and ginger and spice and cooked in the tandoor. The outside was perfectly singed, the interior moist. The spice blend was just right with a little bit of heat, but not too much. The spuds had, I suspect, been deep fried but that’s normal for any restaurant and we both loved the chat sour spicing on them.

Carrots can often be too mushy on a pub roast, these though were crisp and fresh tasting with just a hint of garlic. The cauliflower was also just perfectly al dente and the kale was, well it was kale. I like it, but it does get caught in the teeth.

The lamb had been taken off the bone, which I prefer to having Fred Flinstone’s lunch served up to me and was very good. I didn’t personally like the makhani sauce, it’s not one I ever order as it’s a bit too sweet for me, but the nihari gravy was very good with the lamb.

We barely touched the naans, we simply were too full. A shame and a waste, too.
That said, we recovered for dessert because I love Kokum’s Basil Crème Brûlée topped with basil seeds. It’s perfectly creamy and redolent of basil, and with a proper crisp topping, in fact it could grace any Michelin French restaurant.

Kokum’s Sunday Lunch is a real winner, I really can’t fault it and will go back again

Next time, no starters.

58-60 East Dulwich Road, Southwark, London, SE22 9AX,

kokumlondon.com

Diwali bookings are now open

A special Diwali menu between 3-8th November.