It seems I often start these reviews with a question but then there are so many that apply to the hospitality industry. For example, what makes you go back to a restaurant? Why do some places shout about every anniversary while others, whoβve been running for years, just shut up and get on with it? How do so many places get everything right and still fail? How do some places do everything wrong and still succeed?Β And, in the case, of Pure Indian Cooking, how can a restaurant this good, this creative, have been running for six years and stayed off my radar?Β
Iβm assuming the answer to the latter is a hint of global pandemic mixed with the βgoodβ people of Fulham and West London making sure Pure Indian Cooking remained their little secret. I get that. Iβm writing about it now because I want them to be even more successful than they clearly already are yet also donβt want you to know about it in case I need a table in the near future. Scratch that. WHEN I need a table in the VERY near future.Β
If you havenβt worked it out by now, PIC is a little cracker. From the outside, a short walk from Putney Bridge Station, it looks like your common-or-garden local because, well, it is. That feeling wonβt change as you go in either. I mean, thereβs no flock wallpaper, or clichΓ©s like that, but itβs the sort of functional dining room youβd expect, with a little bar / takeaway counter, the background music youβd anticipateβ¦ and then you open the menu and you realise youβre in a very different sort of place.Β
PIC is the culinary baby of chef-patron Shilpa Dandekar and husband Faheem Vanoo, who started their careers at the Taj group in India. If that wasnβt CV enough, since arriving in the UK, Shilpa has worked for the likes of Raymond Blanc and Sriram Aylur at Quilon but itβs her personality, not theirs, that shapes and colours this menu β although the existence of a PIC Tasting Menu suggests something of the two has rubbed off. But I know, right? A local Indian restaurant with a tasting menu? Thatβs a gesture that tells you much of Shilpaβs, and PICβs, ambition and ability.Β
Itβs tempting to choose that as a shortcut to what one assumes will be PICβs greatest hits but, instead, we roam a little around the a la carte, starting with a pre-starter called Taste of Mumbai β a little selection of neatly presented, crispy beach snacks β and the Pulled Lamb Hara Pyaaz. We moved on to the Halibut Fish Curry (I mean, you would, wouldnβt you?), Asparagus and Pinenut Poriyal (asparagus tempered with mustard and curry leaves, with pine nut and coconut), Khatte Baingan (aubergine with sesame, coconut and tamarind), the almost inevitable Dal Makhani, Chive and Brown Garlic Pulao, and a Butter Naan with garlic, chilli and coriander. We were, in fact, by our standards, rather well behaved (even so, dessert was an impossibility) although vows were made to return for the likes of Mussel Soup, Tandoori Duck, nutmeg-marinated Venison Steak, Lobster Pulao and, frankly, around 17 other dishes the likes of which Iβve not seen before on a London menu. Flavours were bold, ingredients were, clearly, of excellent quality, spicing was, as it should be, unapologetic. All in all, itβs pretty damned faultless. They even serve Harviestoun Beers, an unexpected treat and, almost inevitably, a sign that the people here know what theyβre doing. I think I finally understand why property in SW6 is so expensive. You get Pure Indian Cooking as your local.Β
Pure Indian Cooking
67 Fulham High Street
London
SW6 3JJ
United Kingdom
