Jay Sullivan
Google
Stopped in between Science Festival events, with plenty to discuss about the planet we are on and the rest of the Universe, we were walking past East India and decided to see if we could jag an early table.
Indian food in the UK comes with weighty expectations for Australians, based on the English romanticising narratives of post-colonial food culture, the famous curry houses and stories of certain classic dishes having been “invented” here. But lots of the places I’ve tried do not live up to these myths and I think some Australian Indian restaurants could brag a bit more about their authenticity and fusions.
I’m saying this because I didn’t walk into East India Café with high expectations, even though it has a very good reputation.
We arrived basically as they were opening for dinner - and we were first through the door. As we left, the place was beginning to fill, but frankly, this place should’ve had a line out the door.
In recent years they have been rightly recognised by the Michelin Guide (they held a Michelin Plate, featured frequently there and had once flirted with the Bib Gourmand and other accolades, if I’m not mistaken). But don’t worry about the trendy pretentiousness of those things. The East India Cafe has food that speaks of pride, skill, and heritage.
The owners have built a decor, menu and experience inspired by the culinary histories of Anglo-Indian trade routes, Raj-era club dining - obviously not a museum for the moral stains of colonialism, but a culinary celebration of the best parts of the culinary tradition in terms of spice, techniques, and balance of flavours, in a dining space presenting starched linen, formal wait staff and multi-course meals.
The food was phenomenal. We opened with the Crab in Three Ways — the textures and flavours made me glad I tried this. The Lemon Duck Tikka followed, it was moist and well marinated - both I would order again.
The mains, the Railway Lamb Curry - might be the best curry I’ve had in the UK so far, I can’t think of a better one that is for sure. The Beef Karachi might be the second best one I’ve had - both were the right amounts of rich, complex, and built for savouring and mopping up the sauce with the bread and rice.
All mains are accompanied with Afghani Pilaf, Khachumber, and Tomato Chutney and are served for the table to share. Our waiter was friendly and formal and answered our questions and gave us some recommendations. He also made sure we knew that more rice, more paratha, or more anything was only a word away. He embodied the ethos of the place for me, understated, generous, and entirely focused on the guest.
While the historical East India Company may have created some of the ugliest chapters of global trade - the culinary legacy of the East India Café has created something beautiful and enduring from this history.
The East India Café isn’t a franchise curry house, it’s also not a trendy Instagram fusion place. It’s a quiet, confident in what it is doing, and standing on the quality of its food place.
As we left we were thanking the waiter and thanking the chefs in the kitchen for giving us such a memorable dining experience.
We wandered off to our next event very full and very satisfied. As Richard Dawkins did his best to stay alive long enough to make interesting topics boring and make you feel stupid for not being an atheist, I took a moment to look up the East India Cafe on my phone and was happy to see they also do takeaway - thank the gods!
