Shilpa

No relation to Shilpa Shetty's much publicised (but yet to materialise) promise of a UK restaurant chain, this recently opened Indian restaurant is the latest addition to the Keralan Group of Restaurants, which includes their popular flagship restaurant, Radha Krishna Bhavan in Tooting.

Shilpa celebrates sunny coastal cooking with the accent on seafood, spicy coconut masalas and classic staples from southern India. It's a narrow functional space with 1970s-style posters across walls, strings of fairy lights and TV screens ensuring every night is Bollywood night. Don't be put off by the no-frills furnishings - this spot lets the cooking do the talking.

Hearty and substantial, sea bass fillets wrapped in banana leaves were grilled to perfection. What really scored was their topping of salacious tomato-and-shallot sauce, spiked with raunchy mustard seeds and perky green chillies. Crunchy thoran also impressed - a diced cabbage, carrot and green bean stir-fry, light in flavour, finished with a flurry of grated coconut and toasted red chillies. Do try the speciality Keralan paratha - it's as flaky as puff pastry and a marvellous match with curries. Mango pachadi was a downer - squishy, overly sweet fruit pieces, warmed in yogurt and mustard masala, too cloying for its own good.

The meal was brought back on track with Keralan lamb stew, notable for its turmeric-hued coconut milk sauce, infused with split cardamom pods and astringent ginger. It's a pity the boneless meat wasn't as tender and flavoursome as hoped.

Prices are easy on the pocket with set lunches pegged at under a fiver - a small price to pay for full-on feasting, friendly service and top-notch tropical cooking. Hammersmith has a new hotspot in its midst.
Roopa Gulati. Photography Tricia De Courcy Ling

Time Out Issue 1962 March 27-April 2

See other:

Latest user reviews

I SIMPLY LOVE THE FOOD AT SHILPA . I VISIT THIS RESTAURANT THREE TIMES IN A WEEK AS ITS OUR GANGS FAV HANGOUT PLACE. SIMPLY LOVE THE LAMB PORICHATTU , THE KING FISH FRY AND HOW CAN I FORGET THE ' KONJU MASALA' WITH MALABARI PARATHA . PLS TRY THIS RESTAURANT ONCE IN UR LIFE. AWESOME FOOD AND THE... [More]
OMKAR SHANBHAG  Apr 17 2008