Camden’s Namaasté Kitchen

Most restaurants are very secretive about the way they go about their business. They are very keen to preserve a definitive demarcation point between the kitchen and the restaurant. This is because it is often better to ensure there is a line between a place where vegetables and meat go in and where pan-fried calf’s liver with potato gratin and winter salad come out.

However, there are others where such candour is removed and the whole process of cooking is revealed, with all the finesse and hard work fully on display. These tend to be places where the cuisine requires a little flamboyance, an intensity and as much flaming as the insurance will allow.

One such place that has a part of its apparatus for all to see is the newly opened Namaasté Kitchen in Camden. Following on from their success with the Salaam Namaste in Bloomsbury, Sabir and Aneela Karim have opened a new venture in Camden. This features a tandoor clay oven, a sigri that enables food to be cooked over a coal flame and a tawa, which is a hot iron griddle plate. Although all of these can only be seen from a few tables, they do provide a marvellous spectacle as all the meat and spices are combined.

My companion and I started off with the Chowpatty Bel Puri and the spicy soft shell crab respectively. The first thing that struck me was the effort that had gone into the presentation of the dishes. Although not excessively formal, it was clear that a good deal of effort had gone into making the food look good.

But how did it taste?

Very well indeed. The crab, marinated in a green peppercorn sauce and served up with a spicy fig and prune sauce, was tremendous. My companion’s Chowpatty Bel Puri was rather nifty, a lovely example of street food with its mixture of potatoes, onions and peanuts.

Our main courses maintained the high standard set by the starters. My leg of wild rabbit, which had been cooked in pickling spices served with aubergine compote, was deliriously juicy and fantastically tasty. My companion’s sea bass which had been marinated in costal spices was another triumph, with the fish infused with a clever combination of flavours.

My companion bade me pick his dessert and he was more than satisfied with his pistachio kulfi. My platter featuring a combination of desserts was a good way to finish off the meal.

What made the meal in Namaasté was the care given to the dishes – not only in the sophistication in their composition but the way in which they were presented. With a three-course meal only costing around £20-£25, Namaasté is going to be a very popular place in Camden.

Namaasté
64 Parkway
Camden
NW1 7AH

Tel: 020 7485 5977