I just can’t seem get enough of good food! That’s why Lady Charlotte and I ventured out to the surrounding area of Sloane Square to try out Kahani London. It is just a side street away from Sloane Street, where you will find a vintage style green illuminated sign guiding you to the sliding glass doors. Greeted with a smile you are shown downstairs, and here you are met by what can only be described as a hidden oasis. Dusty pink meets soft teal, golden accents and printed wallpapers with little sayings to be found by the keen eye. Soft music playing from the speakers you travel past stunning large pots of flowers surrounding the room, and if you would like you can even have a table watching the magic happen in the kitchen.
I was as always fashionably early, if that’s even is a thing?!? So I took a seat at the bar where I treated myself to a Kahani Royal as a pre dinner drink. Made with Elephant Sloe Gin, pomegranate juice, lemon juice topped off with Champagne all adorned with a lovely little flower. Lady Charlotte arrived looking way too fabulous; I learnt that evening that I personally should probably always carry emergency jewellery at least so I can elevate whatever outfit I’m wearing. I had a dash left of my Kahani Royal so Lady Charlotte treated herself to the SW1 and it was truly a joy to watch. It looked like potion making and it tasted delish with saffron and cardamom infused Tequila!
We were seated in a sweet corner next to a fireplace, here we could catch up and focus on the much anticipated food. We started our dinner with a glass of Bollinger Special Cuvée; such smooth bubbles and perfect to toast with! Then after a short-ish catch up of current events we got to ordering the food.
Our starters were a lovely mixture; a plate with three Samosas, chicken, vegetable and lamb, I have to say they were all lovely and full of flavour but the lamb was certainly my favourite, all surrounding a dip in the middle, this was a perfect size plate to share. Lady Charlotte treated herself to the Soft Shell Crunchy Crab, this was the first time I had seen one so I found it very intriguing. It was nice and crispy alongside a lot of salad and garnish, it looked like a work of art. My absolute favourite starter was definitely the Black Chicken, spicy with travelling flavours. A perfect sized serving with a colourful garnish of roasted spice and curry leaves all the while resting on a soft sauce that allowed the flavours to settle. One might even say this dish was epic.
Our mains was kind of in two parts, the Main Grill and the Main Curry. Monkfish was one of the choices and I have never had this before either. What a full flavour meaty fish, surprising you with a smokiness to the taste along side sweet chilli. Our Venison came on a beautiful plate surrounded by truffle Naan bread, topped with shallots and fenugreek leaves. The venison was really softened by the Rosé De Leoube allowing the flavours to explode in your mouth with every bite. Lastly but not least in the grill menu we had the Tandoori Broccoli, serving us crunchiness with a smooth yoghurt sauce and garnished with crushed wheat chips and nigella seeds, a lovely mixture and super tasty.
We took a small break to allow the food to settle but also compose ourselves for the next course; enter the curry. We had the Kori Gassi Chicken, simmered with curry leaves and coconut. This tasted very traditional and the curry was beautifully balanced by the coconut. As a side dish for this we had the saffron rice that supported the chicken perfectly. I was excited for the Okra, as I only just recently learnt I like Okra. The Ajwani Okra was spicy and soft and perfect as a side dish. Let’s not forget the Naan which was perfect for dipping in the curry. There was a choice of either Garlic naan or plain, we obviously had both as total gluttons! To compliment the curry and its side dishes we had a glass of Tapanappa Foggy Hill Pinot Noir, it truly enhanced the curry main and didn’t overpower the flavours or increase the spiciness of the dishes. It was a very smooth red that I can see being enjoyed for many occasions.
We were completely stuffed so there was no room for dessert so to end our evening I had a latte, because there’s no time of day when coffee isn’t a good idea for a Swede, whilst Lady Charlotte was probably wiser than me by having a nice cup of Hibiscus tea. We had such a lovely evening with amazing flavours all the while being served and very well taken care of by Ali and Akin, who talked us through the menus and explained all the dishes to us in depth. A big thank you also to the General Manager Shoaib for welcoming us, I will for sure be taking my friends to Kahani whenever they’re in town to experience this hidden gem of Indian gastronomy.
Kahani London
1 Wilbraham Place
London
SW1X 9AE
United Kingdom
