Namaaste Kitchen: Tackling The Great Kebab Menu

By Tom Gatehouse
@tragatehouse
tomgatehouse.com

Everyone seems to be a little under the weather at the moment. The arrival of spring used to herald poetry and sonnets in days gone by. Now we get sniffles, coughs, aches and pains. Not that Camden Town is any less vibrant as I found out the other evening, wrapped like a woollen present with a sneezing companion in tow.

We’d figured there was no better remedy to our half-illnesses than an Indian feast, and the chefs at the award-winning Namaaste Kitchen would apply the necessary stitches and poppadums.

It was a packed weekday evening in the restaurant, with two birthday parties at either end of the long dining room. The central bar was hard at work with mojitos and cosmos for the revellers, and while the unseen kitchen powered through orders, a standalone kebab area at the back skewered and sliced amid camera flashes from curious diners.

We’d heard tell of Namaaste Kitchen’s Great Kebab Menu, and it wasn’t too hard a choice to put our faith in the two different set menus on offer. One meat and one veggie.

The two Great Kebab menus contain eight dishes each, with some arriving in tandem, and cost £22.95 and £17.95 respectively. While the two of us are both carnivores, we knew better than to rule out the potential brilliance of vegetarian dishes, especially in the hands of one Sabbir Karim, the executive chef of Namaaste Kitchen who was named the Best Innovative Chef and Best Newcomer at the 2013 Asian and Oriental Chef of the Year Awards.

Last year I dined at Sabbir’s first restaurant, Salaam Namaste in Bloomsbury, and it really was one of the best Indian meals I’ve ever had. It was the first time I had had salmon in Indian food – tandoori ajwain salmon to be precise – and it was extraordinary.

I was, therefore, thrilled to meet Sabbir in person at Namaaste Kitchen. Down to earth and full of energy, he seemed extremely happy with his operation, and well he should.

The veggie first course consisted of paneer skewers with peppers and onions, cooked in tandoor with royal cumin and green cardamom, with accompanying deep fried disks of potato and tamarind.

Tawa seared scallops sat opposite me with my companion and her meat first course, as well as ground chicken kebabs mixed with ginger, green chillies, cheese and a kick of spice.

It was clear that this was a kebab tasting menu designed to touch every corner of Chef Karim and his team’s prowess in the kitchen, and my companion and I had great fun swapping plates, tasting individual pieces and trying to decide which was the greater. The veggie menu had started strong, but her scallops were plump and rich in spice. It was a dead heat and we looked forward to round two.

Having engaged in two separate renditions of the “Happy Birthday” song with the rest of the diners, we began to have a closer look at the place. Like its sister in Bloomsbury, Namaaste Kitchen looks nothing short of sci-fi. Light features that glow a little like the Tesseract from the Marvel films, odd window-like wall frames that fire aquamarine across the red banquettes, all surrounded by shocked stone with the floor paved with wood. It could be Captain Kirk’s living quarters aboard the Enterprise, and while its all perfectly fine, it doesn’t do anything particularly different when compared to other Indian restaurant décor.

The food that evening, however, continued to stand out.

In the red corner for the second course: Home-smoked salmon marinated with dill and mustard, backed by skewered chicken tikka shashlik with charred peppers, red onion and tomatoes.

In the green corner: Tandoori portabello mushroom filled with figs, cashew nuts, raisins, green chilli and homemade cheese, served alongside marinated masala cauliflower.

The meat just came out on top here, largely due to the reappearance of salmon. Sabbir Karim really does love a fish dish, and this was once again full of character. Not to say the veggie course was found lacking, with the stuffed mushroom full of stories and the cauliflower strong and flavourful.

By this point, I must confess, I was pretty full. While I brand both of these set menus as tasting options, their size and weight does throw up issues. This is value for money, of that there can be no doubt, but we both struggled to attack the main course of biryani. One with lamb cutlets and one packed with vegetables. They were the star of the show, but we did consider the dreaded doggy bag more than once. Just considered, mind.

Finally – a large pot of peppermint tea providing ample support – dessert, which was traditional carrot cake with coconut ice cream and sliced strawberry.

This was quite a meal, and certainly the most thorough kebab dining experience I’ve had. Clearly word has travelled fast about this particular menu as I saw plenty of couples emerging into the grippingly cold ‘spring’ evening sporting similar looks of satisfaction and struggling suspension. As I said, The Great Kebab Menu really delivers on value, and neither set menu puts too much of a hole in your wallet either.

I had high hopes of Namaaste Kitchen and they delivered with aplomb. If anything, they provided too much! But I’m glad to report that it cured me of my half-cold, with the careful implementation of spices and smiles in the restaurant enough to return to me a clear head.

I will let you know when my exceedingly full stomach follows suit.

Namaaste Kitchen: The Great Kebab Menu
Price: Meat – £22.95, Vegetarian – £17.95
Address: 64 Parkway, London NW1
Website: namaastekitchen.co.uk
Twitter: @NamaasteKitchen