Here at Elysium Magazine a few of us having taken on the Veganuary challenge for 2020 and set out to find the best restaurants looking to cater to our new taste. We were quickly pointed to Kahani, a fine dining restaurant set in Sloane Square in London.
The Look, The Feel
Kahani is set an easy walk from Sloane Square station, in Chelsea. The restaurant itself is the perfect place to take someone special – exquisite interior, a classic bar and tables across the wine cellar and overlooking the kitchen – impressive. A very warm welcome from the host and we quickly felt we were on a culinary journey for the evening.
Kahani boasts an impressive nine menus to choose from, our choice was easy given our objective: to find vegan fine dinning in London. Star chef Peter Joseph certainly created some interesting takes on Indian dishes and we were ready.
We started with Spiced green pea cake with cumin, ginger and chilli (£9) and the Truffle roti, black garlic spinach (£8). Both were unique dishes, which were served as masterpieces. The kitchen takes absolute pride in the presentation and the attention to detail was appreciated. The sommelier paired the starters with some white wine; happy we looked forward to the mains.
The Main Event
The chef recommended the Marinated tandoori broccoli jaggery, nigella seeds, wheat crisps (£12) and Jackfruit biryani with mint and coriander, padron pepper sauce (£18). Red wine was recommended to bring out the flavour within these hearty dishes. Its fair to say we were blown away with what the chef had done to these fairly simple takes on Indian dishes. The broccoli was surprisingly filling and bursting with flavour. The biryani is a gem – thoroughly tasting, bringing out the natural tastes of the ingredients with no compromise to the presentation or portions. We were in food heaven.
We couldn’t leave without attempting a vegan dessert – the Soya milk rice pudding with saffron, raisins and pistachio (£7) was recommended, accompanied by dessert wine. This was the perfect end to our vegan culinary journey – a light dessert, keeping to a traditional Indian dish with a twist.
Verdict
If you are looking for a great all round restaurant which is welcoming, accessible and serves high quality vegan food then look no further than Kahani. It came recommended and we were glad we listened; a busy restaurant is evidence that the approach works – Indian food has largely remained consistent over the years but Kahani has changed this. The vegan menu is fantastic and, we hope, here to stay.
Rating
Food: 5/5
Ambience: 4/5
Venue: 5/5
Contact:
1 Wilbraham Place, London, SW1X 9AE
Email: reservations@kahanirestaurants.com