Flavours of India

The menu at Flavours of India

The aperitivos and entrantes come first. Papadum in several versions, one of them with cumin. Samosa with potato and pea or with minced lamb. Pakora of paneer, vegetable, chicken, fish and prawn. Aloo tikki of boiled potato, onion and pea in chickpea batter. A puri row with prawn, chicken or mushroom on fried flatbread. Even at this stage the tandoor is at work, sending out marinated chicken wings, pollo tikka and beef sheekh kebab.

The curry chapter works as a construction kit. You choose the base first — chicken, chicken tikka, lamb, lamb tikka, beef, prawn, mixed vegetables, fish fillet, paneer or tofu — and then the sauce: masala, badami with almond, balti, pasanda with almond and pistachio, kashmiri with banana and fruit, korma with coconut, dopiaza built on the onion family, bhuna, dhansak, jalfrezi, karahi, pathia, rogan josh or saag. The biryani chapter follows the same logic. On rice, the house states plainly that it uses basmati.

The sizzlers are the tandoor dishes, which arrive with lemon, onion and green pepper: pollo tikka, cordero tikka, tandoori chicken on the bone, paneer tikka, lamb sheekh kebab, shashlik on a bed of onion with mushrooms and peppers, and salmon tikka. The especialidades de casa are more idiosyncratic: mango chicken tikka, a chilli tikka with peppers and soy sauce, a chicken in tamarind sauce, a lamb marinated overnight with nuts and raisins.

Heat as your own decision

The menu runs its own heat scale, and it applies to every curry and every biryani: no heat, medium, madras, vindaloo and, at the top, phall. This is not a gesture but the practical core of the house. At the same table one person can eat a korma entirely mild while another takes the same base at a level the menu marks with an exclamation mark. For mixed parties — children, cautious eaters, chilli regulars — it settles the usual negotiation before ordering.

Vegetarian and vegan

The meat-free side is not a list of side dishes here. There is a section of house dishes of its own: paneer butter masala, baingan bharta of aubergines cooked in the tandoor and peeled afterwards, palak paneer with spinach, and mushroom bhaji. Alongside it runs a row explicitly marked vegan, with bombay aloo, aloo gobi, saag aloo, tadka daal of yellow split peas, daal makhni and chana masala. And because paneer, tofu and mixed vegetables can also be chosen as a curry or biryani base, almost the entire sauce chapter can be played through without meat.

Terrace, drinks and practicalities

There is seating outdoors, air conditioning inside, a corner for children and step-free access; dogs are welcome. Anyone who would rather eat at home can have the food packed up. The drinks list carries cava, sangría and a long spirits row alongside the Indian lagers Kingfisher and Cobra, plus mango lassi as a yoghurt mocktail and Indian tea. At the end come gulab jamun, pistachio and mango ice cream and an Indian mousse. There is a small separate menu for children, and you pay in cash or by card, contactless included.