Traditional and modern Indian cooking

Saturday, July 15th , 2006

 

Old favourites were the theme this week. I went to the old and the new of Indian restaurants, with the 30 year old Southall restaurant the Brilliant as reliable as ever, showing the world cup final on the Sunday night we were there on its large plasma screens instead of the usual Bollywood movies.  I also visited Deya (pictured) which perhaps due to its slightly offbeat location is not as talked about as it deserves. This is the best of the “modern Indian” places in London, and very fairly priced considering its smart setting and top ingredients. We also went back to the timeless Zafferano, which for over a decade has been serving the best Italian food in London. Its refurbishment has increased the size of the place, but the cooking is still as consistent as ever, with perfect salads and pasta in particular.  It is ironic that the waiting staff are mostly Italian but the chef is in fact English (he trained under Giorgio Locatelli, the original chef here for years, so fear not).