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Chai Pani, 64 Seymour St, London W1H 5BW


64 Seymour St, London W1H 5BW

020 72582000

Sometimes when you fall out of a restaurant after a very good meal you can almost feel your arteries tightening and your heart gasping and you can think - that was a very good meal but it has probably taken a week off my life. This place, an Indian vegetarian restaurant, is the antidote to that. We had a very good meal but the feeling afterwards was one of wholesomeness, almost, indeed, of virtue...

I am not a veg by nature but I think it's a good idea to be open to most food experiences -so this one was an Indian veg experience. The only thing I knew was that Indian cuisine is good for veg and we would be in the hands of experts.

A couple of streets behind Marble Arch the restaurant is of average size and has a gentle ambience - perhaps slightly temple - like, with large wooden carvings standing about. Tables are averagely spaced and run up each side of the room which has a counter and an arch at the far end. The menu is quite large and packed with interesting offerings but in the end I decided to go with a set meal so that my experience would be in the hands of someone who knew what they were doing. And they did.

I had a Chai Pani Thaali of the day - salad, starter, bread, rice, two curries, yoghurt and dessert, which cost £16. A large silver tray was produced and the entire meal, starter, main and dessert, was placed on it in little pots so that you can mix and match. There are rice, breads, curries and side dishes in abundance, all delicious and some wonderful textures and flavours that I had never experienced before. Do not underestimate vegetarian curries by the way - this one packed as powerful a wallop as any 'conventional curries' I have experienced. The waiters were very good and extremely helpful with an expert's knowledge of the dishes, what was in them and which to have with what. My friend had a consultation with them and being wild and reckless by nature she eschewed the set meal and had millet and lentil dahl and another incredible creation involving, I think, buckwheat - and seemed even happier than I was.

Other customers ranged from a studious family to a group of girls on the town to a pair of ladies of a certain age taking tea, with a slight touch of the Raj about them. Prices are average, food is excellent and it probably does you good too. What more do you want? Remember to respect the curry.

By Harry at 20/10/2006 - 14:51 | 2006 | Approved | Indian | London | Review | Service | £££/$$$ | add new comment | 251 reads