Mango & Silk

Sunday Buffet - Whistlestop tour - sample cuisine from each region of India

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Offer valid until Aug 31

Over the past two decades, chef Udit Sarkhel has helped raise the standards and expectations of Indian cooking in London's restaurants. Sarkhel's own Earlsfield restaurant closed last year, but he's recently returned to the culinary scene, as head chef at Mango & Silk.

Sarkhel's menu doesn't try to astound with flashy new-wave flourishes but instead promises a culinary tour of India's home kitchens. Sarkhel focuses on traditional pan-Indian dishes where vegetarian choices are given equal billing with meaty grills, curries and distinctive street foods. With its tangy Parsi classics, Mughal stalwarts, southern coconut masalas and Punjabi comfort cooking, this restaurant takes pride in recreating dishes from 'back home' but also avails itself of seasonal British produce when it can.

We chose a starter from the daily specials list: a Goan speciality of squid balchao, notable for the succulent seafood and its vinegary masala cut with the sweetness of cinnamon and fiery red chillies. If only the quantity of sauce had been reduced to give the slivers of squid more prominence, we would have given it top marks.

Crisp samosas, with their lemon-drenched potato filling seasoned with toasted cumin and chilli, were delectable. Portions were almost large enough for a light meal in themselves - ours made a tasty partner for tongue-tingling chickpea curry, bolstered with ginger and golden-hued onions.

The good cooking continued with the mains. Malai fish curry, a classic from Sarkhel's home town of Calcutta, delivered perfectly cooked chunks of cod in a creamy coconut milk broth, punctuated with green chillies and peppery mustard seeds.

Murgh makhani, the Indian precursor to chicken tikka masala, must be the Punjab's signature dish, and this rendition would have won approval from the strictest of purists. Tandoori chicken morsels were deliciously tender and cloaked in a buttery tomato sauce simmered with toasted fenugreek leaves - a far cry from the ubiquitous 'tikka masala' plaguing Britain.

In addition to the à la carte choices, weekday 'express' lunches cost a mere £5.50 per person, and Sunday feasting is a snip at just over a tenner (even cheaper for kids). Judging from the full house on our Friday night visit, Sarkhel's regional menu is attracting well-heeled aficionados and India-returned tourists hankering for a taste of sunshine cooking. Much is owed to owner Radhika Jerath's charm, warmth and elegance at front of house. Even when the kitchen and service teams were working at full tilt, she didn't miss a beat. This affordable, authentic and amiable restaurant is doing East Sheen residents proud.

Roopa Gulati. Photography Tricia De Courcy Ling

Time Out Issue 1955: March 19 - 25 2008

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