Food and Drink

The Rickshaw

Above: The Rickshaw

Seldom are there times when performances merit full marks from the judges. Torville and Dean’s ‘Bolero’ may have been sixes across the board but it was a rare and welcome exception. The Rickshaw in Battersea is another exception and would definitely win my medaille d’or. Recently revamped and reinvented it now offers the lucky residents of Battersea Square and its environs a dining experience second to none. The décor is both refined and soothing. Comfortable wooden furniture, a soft colour scheme of creams and ochres, polished floors and sympathetic lighting collectively soothe the soul, allowing you to concentrate on the star attraction – deliciously prepared Indian food and an excellent accompanying wine list, catering to all tastes and depth of pockets. I kicked off with an amuse-bouche of delicious and varied popadoms before giving way to a taste sensation of crisp wheat shells filled with chick peas, potato and pomegranate, tamarind and yoghurt sauce (dahi chutney golgappas) as well as minced lamb rolls coated in fresh herbs (lamb seekh ghilafi). All this is before we venture into the mains you understand!

There I chose lamb rogan josh, expertly cooked with the most tender and well-seasoned cuts of meat and just the right amount of spice. Accompaniments of new potatoes, stir-fried with cumin and pomegranate seeds (aloo anardana) and Peshwari naan helped pushed carbohydrate levels to an all-time high and would have left followers of the Atkins diet sprinting for the doors. And just as I thought it couldn’t get much better I was presented with one of the best crème brulees (with fresh mango) I have ever had the pleasure to taste. This place is going to do well, really well, and deservedly so. The service was stunning – low-key, knowledgeable and enormously friendly – while the food could not be faulted. Certainly a 6.0 from the British judge.