From Surbiton to South Kensington

Saturday, October 26th , 2024

Koyal is a new Indian restaurant in Surbiton, an offshoot of Dastaan. It is much larger than Dastaan and despite it being the very first days of service, the food was already superb. I tried quite a range of dishes over two meals, and the quality of the food was terrific in dish after dish. The locals in Surbiton are lucky people.

Daquise is a veteran Polish restaurant in South Kensington, operating since 1947. Although it is not expensive, the food that I tried was rather lacklustre, and the shambolic service and aggressively priced wine list did not add to its appeal. I am generally sympathetic to long-established restaurants as I like a bit of tradition, but such places also need to deliver good food, and to be honest Daquise did not.