Brilliant

The Brilliant has been a regular haunt of mine ever since I moved to west London in 1991, but it actually opened even further back in 1975. Set up by owner Gulu Anand and now run by Gulu and his daughter Dipna, the Brilliant is full of Asian families who enjoy the traditional Punjabi cooking here.

We shared an aloo tikki starter, which is a potato cutlet cooked with chickpeas and spices and then served with yoghurt and a tamarind sauce. The hint of sweetness of the tamarind was a nice touch, the vegetables tender and the spices distinct (14/20). Methi chicken had pieces of chicken in a sauce with plenty of fenugreek and finished with coriander. The sauce was dark and rich and the spices were nicely balanced, the tangy fenugreek present but not overwhelming. The meat avoided dryness and had nicely absorbed the spices it was cooked with (14/20). Aloo gobi had nicely cooked cauliflower and pieces of potato along with garlic, spices and fresh ginger (14/20).

Aloo chollay was a vegetable curry with potatoes and chickpeas that both were cooked nicely and retained some texture. The dish was enlivened by raw mango and pomegranate seeds to give a touch of freshness (14/20). The Brilliant is one of the few restaurants in London to serve romali roti, a bread that is rolled out very thin, tossed in the air and cooked briefly on a sphere hemisphere, being folded up as the cooking happens by someone with asbestos fingers. It can be a lovely bread as long as it is made completely fresh, as it was here. If it is left for a few minutes before serving then it hardens and can be quite papery in texture, but no such issues tonight (14/20). Rice, both pilau and plain, was also good.

Service is surprisingly slick here for a neighbourhood restaurant, the Sikh manager being particularly attentive. The bill tonight came to £42 a head including service, with plenty of beer to drink and enough leftovers for a further complete meal. This good value for money factor, combined with the remarkably consistent cooking here, explains why The Brilliant has been busy for almost five decades.

Further reviews: 16th Jul 2023 | 12th Feb 2023 | 17th Sep 2022 | 17th Aug 2021 | 13th Sep 2020 | 05th May 2019 | 06th Aug 2017 | 05th Jun 2016