Trishna London

Time Out

2 days ago

Forget the elevated chains, the Michelin magnets, the Desi pubs and the Indian-Irish fusion joints (alright, there's only one of those). Trishna in Marylebone pre-dates and outshines them all, a graceful doyenne, gliding across the hectic ballroom of London's high-end Indian restaurant scene.
There's nothing particularly flash about Trishna's baby-blue panelling and simple wooden furniture. It doesn't scream 'design consultancy has been here' or 'immersive dining concept'. Instead the vibe is straightforward and friendly. This is a 'normal' neighbourhood restaurant that achieved (well earned) city-wide fame, jacked up the prices (understandably) and lived happily ever after. It's your talented and hard-working grandmother, happily remarried to a millionaire.
If you can accept the cost, Trishna will deliver every time
The considerable cost of eating at Trishna is reflected in the food's quality. Everything bar a few starters is top notch, the kind of delicate-yet-punchy south Asian cuisine you'd be mad to try replicating at home. A perfect example of a 'Trish dish' is the bream: jade-like slices of fish, marinated with coriander and green chilli, served with a floral tomato salad. Not only is it as eye-catching as a David Hockney still life, the bream has a high-wire balance of flavours, cooked with expert precision in the tandoor. Another signature offering is the legendary aloo chat, a lip-smacking lattice of chutney and sev, crowning a chickpea and potato nest. It's almost as if the folks at Trishna saw Gymkhana's famous aloo chaat, had a taste, rolled up their sleeves and said 'hold my (Cobra) beer'.
The hits don't end there. Pray silence for Trishna's Dorset brown crab - a dish that staff bring out with a silent-yet-discernible pride, like a Soviet leader on parade day, watching his troops roll out a nuclear missile. It's a nourishing bowl of chive-and-chilli-topped crab meat, imbued with a truly shocking (in a good way) depth of flavour. Not only the best thing we ate at Trishna, it's one of the best things we've eaten all year. Hot on its heels in the tasty stakes was the beef shortrib, a hockey puck of stewed and shredded meat, atop a chickpea dosa raft floating on a pulsating bed of coconut and shallots. Meanwhile, the Goan prawn biriyani - served with a cute pink-peppercorn raita - is a delicate delight, the shining antithesis of claggy, heavy curried rice dishes the world over.
Some of the starters are comparatively one-note. And the desserts, as you'd expect, aren't really the point. But if you can accept the cost, Trishna will deliver every time.
The vibe Quietly confident south Indian fine-dining establishment, masquerading as a 'normal restaurant'.
The drink We tried two signature cocktails (aamra negroni and shimoga gimlet). Both were exceptionally well made and balanced.