Restaurants

The owners daughter has stepped into Dads shoes and is keen to energise Brilliants Kenyan-influenced Punjabi menu, giving a healthy spin to selected dishes. A recent makeover has spruced up the interior with a shiny new bar, wooden and tiled flooring, and swish fittings. Only the imposing statues of Kenyan Masai tribes-people remain a testament to the familys African background. A huge helping of papri chat (crisp discs of wholewheat pastry drenched in deliciously tart yoghurt and sweet tamarind chutney) was top-notch, and evocative of Indian street food. It was billed as a healthy dish, so we hoped the pastry discs were baked instead of being fried as usual. Tandoori tilapia chunks couldnt match this in quality, the dish being let down by overcooked fish and vivid artificial colouring. A home-style chicken curry, flecked with mustard greens and gingery masala, lost marks for oiliness. Service is polite, if a trifle distracted at times. Brilliant is a well-intentioned restaurant, but if its to take healthy eating seriously, it will have to do much more than exercise artistic licence with the menu.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008