Review: Indian Fine Dining at Lotus, Charing Cross

Style Points: 4/5
Price: £££
Overall: 5/5

Lotus is a rather inconspicuous looking restaurant located in the busy streets of Charing Cross. It would be easy to walk past Lotus without a second thought, but that would be a mistake, as what waits inside is a luxurious contemporary restaurant serving stunning Indian cuisine.

Would I Want Seconds?

The team of chefs that work at Lotus have worked at the finest luxury restaurants in India and this is instantly evident from the indulgent and innovative menu.

The menu features many tempting dishes that I have not seen before, including tandoori partridge and Pigeon Masala Dosa. We started our meal with an assortment of poppadums with chutneys (£2.75) which included the delicious combinations of mango, apricot, mint, red chilli and green tomato chutney.

For my starter I ordered my favourite dish, potato chaat with chickpea, sev and yogurt (£5.75) which arrived with just the right combination of sweet, spicy and tangy. We also tried corn chaat golgappa (£3.75) which were accompanied with jaljeera and tamarind chutney and were mouthfuls of joy!

Once we had finished these we couldn't wait to try our main courses. I had chosen soft shell crabs cafreal (£18.75) which isn't usually served in Indian restaurants and I wanted to give it a try. This was a scrumptious dish and was served in such a large portion that I couldn't actually finish it all. Unlike most main course dishes in Indian restaurants this wasn't a curry based dish but came with a chutney which stopped it tasting dry. The soft shell crab was served with immensely moreish finely hand cut potato chips and pickled turmeric.

My dining companion order the stunning 23 karat gold lamb shanks khorma (£21.75) served with roast potato mash, papaya pickle, spices, green cardamom and cashew. The lamb was actually coated in large amounts of gold and tasted just as opulent as it looked.

We also ordered dal maa dumpukth (£5.75) which were black lentils simmered overnight with Garlic, Tomato, clarified butter and cream. We had this with saffron and green peas rice to end our luscious meal.

The drinks menu at Lotus is prepared by the in-house sommelier in consultation with Jimmy Smith, chief taster at North London Wine School, but as well as the wines the cocktail list is also inviting and worth a try!

Could I Afford Seconds?

Lotus is a fine dining restaurant and as a result the prices are also high end. Most main courses are around £20 with starters and side dishes costing around £7 - £8.

However despite the prices on the a la carte menu, Lotus have a variety of deals, such as their theatre menu which offers three courses for a very reasonable £22.75, as well as a lunch menu offering three courses for £19.75.

Overall?

I had a stunning meal at Lotus and everything from the personal and individual service, to the luscious food and attractive décor was perfect. I'm surprised that word of how good Lotus is hasn’t got round yet, especially as the Dal was even better than Dishoom’s infamous version!

I would recommend everyone to ignore the exterior and step inside to sample the delights of Lotus.

Website: www.lotus.london
Address: 17 Charing Cross, London WC2H 0EP
Closest Tube Station: Charing Cross