After years of patiently waiting for an exciting new Indian restaurant in our capital’s dining scene, Pali Hill opened its doors in 2020. It was well worth the wait, says James Lawrence.
Named after a moneyed suburb of Mumbai, Pali Hill occupies a space that once belonged to the old Fitzrovia faithful ‘Gaylord’. It is that most welcome of central London restaurants: unpretentious, unassuming and keenly priced. It assaults your palate with the most pungent and exquisite flavours imaginable, but not your wallet. It represents Indian cuisine at its very best, a mere five minutes from Oxford Circus tube station. Gastronomes, curry aficionados, cocktail lovers, indolent diners – they’re all welcome here.
Gastronomic duties are handled by Avinash Shashidhara (or just Avi to most people), a chef with an impressive résumé. He has honed his craft at several of London’s leading restaurants, including Hibiscus and the River Café. You’re in very safe hands.
And yet, my enduring memory of Pali Hill is Bandra Bhai, the snug and atmospheric basement cocktail bar inspired by Indian smuggling dens. In the eternal battle between competing priorities, many restaurants inevitably let one aspect of the experience slip, while heavily focusing on the other ingredients. Indeed, many dining venues recruit world-class chefs, whilst curating a lacklustre wine list.
But at Pali Hill, the drinks are as exciting as the food. An expansive wine list was outclassed by the bar manager’s inspiring creations, mixed by a chap called Dafydd who hails from Bangor, in North Wales. His imaginative cocktails (Dafydd cut his teeth working for Michelin chef Marcus Wareing) stole the show, particularly a fragrant take on the classic John Collins. We spent far too long in the basement.
However, the culinary art is pretty impressive too. After cocktails, you retreat upstairs to an expansive dining room, complete with a large open kitchen and kitsch artwork on the walls. The menu sits halfway between concise and expansive, offering generous portions of bite-sized appetisers, tandoori grill options, larger plates and side dishes.
Pondicherry spicy fried squid made its opening debut, a fiery dish of butter-soft cephalopod married to crispy kale. It’s delicious street food, kicked up a couple of levels of creativity and refined for restaurant dining. Meanwhile, chicken tikka portions do exactly what it says on the tin. There is also a show-stopping dish of sublime grilled langoustines, greatly enhanced by the deep umami flavours of ajwain, ginger, and chilli & lemon dressing. They’re gone in five seconds.
We don’t need any more food, but we order some anyway. ‘Big Plates’ is where Avi shines; he shows off his knack for subtlety in his cooking, as well as power. Fillets of halibut are firm, fresh and not overly spiced, sitting in a gorgeous coconut, tamarind and plum tomato gravy. The Cornish lamb biryani, perfectly cooked and seasoned, is devoured in absolute silence. A harmonious marriage between great British produce and the fire and brimstone of Indian cooking. It just works.
Service is another strength – gracious, attentive and charming to a fault. Moreover, Pali Hill does a decent job of showing the world that the food and drink offering can coexist as equals, rather than competing rivals.
We eschew desserts in favour of one last cocktail. Food coma kicks in – our gluttony will come back to haunt us during the following day. But, for now, we’re utterly at peace with the world. Pali Hill is on the money; delicious, accessible, and affordable. It’s Michelin-grade cooking without Parisian prices. We’re continually told by the press that 2022 will be the year of inflation, food shortages, and financial pain. I prefer to look on the bright side. It would require a cataclysmic event of apocalyptic proportions, not to tempt me back to Pali Hill.
What: Pali Hill
Where: 79-81 Mortimer Street, London W1W 7SJ
Web: PaliHill.co.uk
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