Hankies

In one corner of this ultra-stylish Indian restaurant, a chef spins and flips ‘hankies’. No, they’re not the sort you blow your nose with, but the large, thin Indian roti that are served folded like a handkerchief, from which the restaurant takes its name.

Tucked inside the luxurious Montcalm Hotel, this airy sister restaurant to Soho’s Hankies Café oozes sophistication – a chrome theme flows through from the cutlery to the ceiling decor. Roomy padded seats match spacious tables, which helpfully removed the need to play Tetris with the small plates as they landed before us. Despite the upmarket vibe, prices remain easy on the wallet.

Everything listed on the menu was tempting. We began with the outstanding bhindi bhel: a mound of okra, puffed rice, onion chunks and pomegranate seeds soaked in chutney. Next, arriving in a heavily spiced batter, the cod was a twist on the fish ’n’ chips classic. The finger-lickingly good butter chicken, a recommendation from our attentive waitress, came in a rich, creamy sauce, which we wolfed down with the springy roomali roti.

But some dishes, such as an otherwise flavour-packed sea bass, were too hot. Similarly, a ‘kankda’ promised masala crab in an egg custard; but it amounted to little more than an extra spicy, frittata.

Still, a prettily presented scoop of paan-flavoured kulfi – paan is a traditional post-meal stimulant combining betel leaf with areca nut – offered a welcome, rose-flavoured cooldown to a relaxing meal.