Roz Ana

This Indian restaurant on Kingston Hill opened nine years ago, with its head chef and part-owner being Deepinder Sondhi. Mr Sondhi trained as a chef in India and then moved from Delhi to the UK, becoming head chef of Chor Bizarre before striking out on his own. The restaurant is in a parade of shops on Kingston Hill. It has a simply decorated but quite well lit dining room.

In addition to a lengthy a la carte there were set menus at £24, £28 and £35. The wine list ranged from £20 a bottle to £150, though most bottles were under £45. Sample labels were Land Made Yealands Sauvignon Blanc 2015 at £27 for a bottle that you can find in the high street for £11, the excellent Trimbach Gewurtztraminer 2014 at £36 compared to its retail price of £18, and the Lebanese Ixsir Altitides Red 2011 at £36 for a bottle that will set you back £19 in a shop. If you were celebrating then you could indulge in Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque 2007 at £150 compared to its retail price of £122. 

Popadoms were suitably crisp and came with a trio of good chutneys. A starter of Kerala fish was nothing to look at, but the fried tilapia had a layer of spices under the batter and was very accurately cooked, with a pleasing chilli kick (14/20). Aloo tikki chaat had a pleasant balance with its tamarind chutney providing sweetness, though for me a bit more spice would have been beneficial (13/20). 

Prawn biryani came served with its pastry case covering the pan, the pastry being cut open at the table by the waitress to releases the aromas inside. The prawns were well cooked and the rice had fluffy texture (14/20). Karahi chicken had a rich, spicy tomato sauce, though the chicken could have been cooked just a touch less to my taste (13/20). I was particularly impressed with jeera aloo, the potatoes having lovely texture and having taken on their spices nicely (easily 14/20). Dhal makhani was also excellent, smoky and rich, having been slowly cooked overnight (14/20). Naan bread was light and supple (14/20). 

For dessert, mango sorbet had plenty of fruit flavour and came with a passion fruit coulis (14/20). Carrot halwa was also very good, having pleasing texture and not being over-sweet, as can so often happen with this dish (14/20). Service was slick, our Polish waitress being very capable. The bill came to £46 a head. Overall I was impressed by Roz Ana, which was recommended to me by an acquaintance but seems to have no marketing machine, just relying on word of mouth. It was packed out the night that we went, and I can see why.