Dinner at Kudu comes with a warning. ‘Pace yourself,’ says our vivacious host, as she persuades me to order a third starter – a trio of walloping grilled tiger prawns, drizzled in an ochre peri peri sauce.
Kudu, the South African restaurant specialising in braai cooking, has upped sticks from its original Peckham location and landed in posh Marylebone. With husband and wife duo Amy Corbin and Patrick Williams still at the helm, Kudu has brought with it many of its beloved dishes, including crisp beef fat potatoes, to Moxon Street. Their new clientele might be dressed in flashier clothes, but Kudu manages to retain its homey charm.
There’s a healthy amount of theatre at Kudu
The front of the restaurant – where I’m sat – is centred around a buzzing open kitchen. Great flames roar from the grill and there’s a smoky smell in the air that tells you barbecuing is serious business here. In the back things are a little more glam, with a wall of mirrors, art deco chandeliers and textiles on the walls. Everything is hued in lovely warm reds, burgundies and browns. Kudu is a very pretty restaurant indeed.
But we’re not here for the aesthetic. We’re here for the dish that made Kudu famous; a very extra bread and butter. The malay butter, a vat of liquid gold harbouring aromatic curry leaves and sweet curls of pickled shallot, is very good. We dunk pillowy brioche into it with abandon. This is followed by oysters with a savoury tomato dashi dressing and salty scorched mackerel with kohlrabi and apple. A bowl of peppery biltong, that we take to calling ‘table meat’, is there to be grazed on throughout the meal. Inspired stuff.
Mains from the braai are a huge, hearty affair. A slab of tender sirloin comes with a perfect mahogany crust and pink centre, and is served on a bed of utterly rich peppercorn sauce. Cape Malay monkfish swims in a warming coconut curry sauce, with pickled fennel and samphire. We chow on those alongside doughnut-like fried fingerling potatoes sprinkled with huge flakes of seasalt, and charred baby carrots drizzled with tangy goat’s curd.
As well as the dense flavours, there’s a healthy amount of theatre at Kudu. Skewers of grilled quail – sweet and smoky – are delivered on their own personal barbecue. For dessert, the Kudu KitKat, a bowl of hearty chocolate mousse topped with ice cream, sliced kumquat and airlight marshmallow is kissed with a lump of charcoal from the barbecue right in front of us. It felt more like a baked Alaska than a KitKat, but that didn’t make it any less enjoyable. We washed our meal down with a couple of glasses of Stellenbosch Merlot and plodded off on our merry way.
The vibe A stylish and welcoming slice of South Africa.
The food European dishes with South African flavours, and lots of open fire cooking.
The drink An extensive list of South African wines, plus some French, and classic cocktails spruced up with Saffer flavours.
Time Out tip Upstairs you’ll find Smokey Kudu, a cosy drinking den open until midnight