Namaaste Kitchen

Inspired by pavement stalls, palace feasts and mum's home cooking, Namaaste Kitchen showcases South Asia's richly varied culinary heritage while giving a nod to modern flavour combos.

The interior tries to overcome the confines of a long, narrow space with its mix of open brickwork, contemporary furnishings and an obligatory bar with flatscreen telly. It's a shame the open kitchen, where the skewering and tossing action takes place, has been relegated to the back of the restaurant.

The cooking is deftly executed on seafood dishes from the Malabar Coast, Mughal-inspired classics, and Pakistani street food.

We began with barra kebab - tandoori lamb cutlets from the North West Frontier. The meat was a triumph of smoky succulence, tenderised with dried kachri (a type of gourd), then steeped in ginger, cracked black peppercorns and lime juice.

We were impressed by chicken livers fried with onion and green chilli masala, neatly heaped onto a tart apple disc, served with white toast pitched on the plate like sails.

Main courses were less adventurous, but no less tasty. A classic from Rajasthan, meltingly soft rabbit, worked well with a cooked-down tomato masala spiced with nutty-tasting nigella, aniseed-like fennel and astringent toasted fenugreek seeds.

Mixed vegetable curry, so often an afterthought on menus, was memorable for its just-cooked medley of fried peppers, cubed paneer, baby corn and mangetout, tossed in a silken tomato and toasted cumin sauce.

The breads are adequate but need more attention to develop lightness of texture. Service too could do with being better informed. The cooking, however, is as creative as it is respectful of tradition.