The Brilliant, 72 Western Road, Southall Middlesex

The Brilliant, 72 Western Road, Southall Middlesex

72 Western Road, Southall Middlesex

020 8574 1928

The Brilliant has been a Southall fixture for over 30 years, and I have been coming here regularly for fifteen of these. It aims to do traditional, family style Punjabi cooking in a restaurant setting. Recently the influence of the owner's daughter has added a number of "healthy options", where there is less use made of ghee.

The strengths are in the main course curries and in several of the starters. For example Methi chicken has tender chicken in a rich, spicy sauce with fenugreek. On the starters, aloo tikki is a dish you only seem to see n Southall: chickpeas, tamarind, yogurt and coriander, which work well as a combination. The chicken starter dishes are excellent e.g. methi chicken (cumin) or malai chicken tikka, or butter chicken if you don't mind the calories. The naans are OK but no more that than, but the romali roti is excellent. Vegetable dishes could do with a being cooked a fraction less to retain more texture, though aloo chollay (mainly chickpeas with a few pieces of potato) works well. They actually make the desserts here, including excellent kulfi and halwa. It is very much a family atmosphere, with groups of ten or more commonplace.

Portions are vast, and a "normal" order for two will result in enough food for four; we usually have a takeaway of the leftovers. The overall quality of the cooking and service is very high, making this one of my favourite Indian restaurants in London.

For a detailed review see www.andyhayler.com