Food Review By FinediningIndian Magazine Team .Kricket was first founded in a tiny 20-seat shipping container in Brixton. The restaurant is a modern memoir of time spent living and working in Mumbai where our story started, and which still heavily influences everything we do. Combining British ingredients with the authentic flavours, aromas and spices of India, our focus from the start has been to create seasonal, modern Indian plates and drinks, served in a relaxed space.Read Kricket Restaurant London Food Tasting Review August as given In Fine dininhg Indian magazine.
Kitchen Team Kricket London
We went with a group of Indianhead chefs and tasted 90% of the menu. What we found ‘kricket’ as new age British gastro pub styled restaurant using Indian cuisine as inspiration, don’t like to call it as fusion cuisine.
But it’s clearly not an Indian restaurant as far as food and taste goes. This must not be Indian cuisine in future. Indian traditional recipes and techniques must be preserved in right way being Modern. Or new restaurants will try to emulate krickets success and Indian cuisine will lose its originality.
Kricket London Counter Seating
We feel very privileged to see how Indian cuisine can influence other cuisines. Would love to see More Kricket like restaurants in French cuisine, Japanese cuisine…
Dishes we Tasted are below with Our Observation
Masala Naan
Naan Bread topped with onion and chaat Masala good texture
Green chilli, garlic, Berk swell
Lightly spicy than expected with Berk swell is made by Julie Hay and the Fletcher family at Ram Hall Farm in the West Midlands, not far from Birmingham. Berk swell is a hard sheep’s cheese
Bhel puri, raw mango, tamarind, sev, yoghurt
Bhel puri is the most famous dish from Juhu beach chat stations. Variants are available across India. Flavours were subtle. The dish has good crunchy texture. The only flavour is of sweet tamarind chutney. After few grind in the mouth, you end feeling the puffed rice is tough to bite. Good portion size as its uses very low-cost ingredients. Traditionally no yoghurt in the dish
Lasooni scallop, Goan sausage, poha, seaweed
Scallop has an excellent natural sweet taste. Traditionally lassoni starts associated with Tandoori dishes in white cheese marinade. Here the garlic flavour was not coming through, Couldn’t figure out how they used seaweed might be in oil but no flavour. Goan pork sausage used for Name sake a small blue berry sized sausage meet, In Goa, it’s more similar to Spanish chorizo. And few pieces of crispy flattened rice (poha)
Torched kasundi mackerel, gooseberry chutney, spiced almonds, oyster leaf
Mackerel is cooked nicely by blow torch skin gives a pleasant burned aroma. But it’s bland when you taste the only mackerel. Kasundi traditionally pickles mustard used as a relish. Found used similarly to dressing on a plate if used on maceral would have enhanced the dish. Gooseberry chutney tasted similar to mango chutney in the tub. Almonds give some texture. Oyster leaf as you can buy compliments any seafood. Few pieces of lightly dressed Cucumber salad was also there on the plate.
Even Though mackerel is cut in two in order to remove Pin bones we managed to get few Inside
Karnataka mussels
Good portions mussels but not sure about the price charging 10 £. It must around 300g mussels with shells. Approximate cost would be less than 2 £ as the current price is 5£ per kilo. Taste and texture of mussels were good and just cooked enough. There were 4 to 5 mussels were closed either dead or not steamed properly. There could have been some lemon tissue served as hands become greasy after struggling with mussels.
This dish very close to receiving our Taste seal we Give in Our Magazine
Monkfish also cooked juicy. But all I was getting was a bitter taste in the mouth be it the Tandoori marinade or coconut chutney. Coconut chutney I believe the use of curry leaf or coriander is overpowering coconut and couldn’t taste the coconut. Traditionally there must be mustard tempering that is missing. Not a pleasant taste for a great piece of good quality fish.
Telangana beef pickle, roti, salted paneer
My thoughts were getting clearer When our tasting reached to beef pickle stage. all dishes on the menu were planned to create a curiosity and to be different than other lists among London Indian restaurants. Beef is too dry as it seems fried to make pickle. Roti is hard as well dry. Salted paneer tasted more like crumbled feta cheese. Too much coriander on top as a layer of garnish.
Keralan fried chicken, curry leaf mayonnaise, pickled mouli
In Kerala, you can never find chicken like this and all Keralite will agree. Use the name but do justice to the dish. For me, it has same texture and taste as KFC chicken. Curry mayo had the colour but no curry flavour was coming through. Pickled mouli could have been more intense in pickling flavour. The whole dish deviates to breaded and fried chicken taste.
wood pigeon, girolles & fresh peas, pumpkin chutney
The dish as a whole is enjoyable but again subtle in Indian flavours and not bold. Wood Pigeon cooked to medium. Girolles is a good combo with any game birds sauce is light and compliments the dish. Pumpkin chutney is like a dry pumpkin mash no resemblance to a chutney.
Duck breast, sesame & tamarind, pickled cucumber
Duck cooked medium served half breast. Duck is seared and roasted without any spices. Skin is not crispy. Sesame sauce tasted similar to Hyderabadi salan gravy made with peanut and coconut. The cucumber pickle is slightly on a sweet side. Duck breast towards the thicker side was bit chewy.
Shahi tukda, buttermilk ice cream, dulce de leche, berries
Very pleased and inspiring to see the use of Indian desserts than European desserts with Indian spices as most other Indian restaurants in London.Brioche tasted just as pan fried bread. Need to relook how it’s done. The crust of brioche is not pleasant when it’s soggy. Buttermilk ice-cream is good with a light sourness. Dulce de leche is used in Latin American cuisine again raising menu curiosity not contributing to the dish. Even if you use salted caramel, you get the same result as its used only as a line on ice cream.
Misti doi, pomegranate, rose, pistachio
Misti Doi is a very popular lightly sweetened with jaggery /sugar set or baked yoghurt traditionally made in an earthenware pot. A very light dessert complimented with the crunchiness of pistachio. An interesting combination of rose petal and pomegranate seeds.