66 Baker Street

London’s Best South Indian Restaurants Serve Kerala and Hyderabadi Food - Eater London

"Ooty is a mountainous region in Tamil Nadu, a ‘hill station’ at a higher elevation, and therefore cooler temperature, that was founded by colonial rulers to escape India’s scorching summer heat. It’s also the name of this ambitious (and notably expensive) new Modern South Indian in Baker Street. There’s a large restaurant with a basement cocktail bar with entrance in Baker Street; and a separate fast food concept named Ooty Station with an entrance to the side on Dorset Street. The restaurant and bar are plush in a hotel lobby kind of way, with framed botanical pictures and sinkable leather chairs. On the menu are thoughtful, subtly flavoured dishes such as tellicherry pepper duck with spinach thoran, olive upma, palm toddy jus and ribbons of chilli roti; and fennel-flecked paneer fingers with soft mashed paneer fritters, samphire pulaom and Hyderabadi tomato kut. Desserts such as jaggery-pineapple bake with smoked cardamom rice and black sesame ice cream are dramatically presented on black plates.  In contrast, Ooty Station is a small, walk-in sports bar that’s more suitable for a casual lunch or snack. Nibbling on paneer 65 stuffed inside super-soft bao buns, and sipping rare alphonso mango wine, is an excellent way of whiling away a leisurely hour. More conventional snacks, such as lamb mince dosas, are also very well executed." - Sejal Sukhadwala