22
Apr
2016

The Great Kebab Menu, Namaaste Kitchen, Camden

Namaaste Kitchen in Camden has always been a favourite Indian place of mine. I was there for its grand opening six years ago and it has continued to improve and innovate over the years. Its latest menu is inspired by that great institution of the British weekend, the kebab. But this is not simply the collection of questionable meat covered with different sauces ingested to satiate alcohol-induced cravings. This is sophisticated fare with considerable thought put into constructing the menu.
My companion and I both went for the meat-based menu and we started with tawa-seared scallops served with spicy relish. These were delicately prepared with a great deal of nuance to the composition. Moving on to the first main course, we were served up with a mixture of dishes. There was the Gilafi Reshmi chicken, which was skewered kebab of ground chicken accompanied by ginger, green chillies, cheese & spices and complemented with mixed peppers & green smith apple chutney.
In addition, there was the Tandoori Sholay Salmon, which was smoked salmon marinated with dill and mustard. There was also the chicken Tikka Shashlik, which came with charred red peppers, red onions & tomatoes.
The Gilafi Reshmi chicken was a revelation, a complex and intriguing creation that made great use of the mixture of flavours and spices. The salmon was not as good with the sharpness of the mustard being a little much for my tastes. But the Tikka Shashlik more than made up for this with the fulsome impact of spices coming to the fore.

The second main course featured lamb Barra Kabab, which was Afghani-style‏ lamb cutlets marinated in spices and slowly cooked in the tandoor oven. This was accompanied by Gosht Biryani, which was traditionally-prepared rice along with lamb on dum method, and Dhall Makhani, a slow-cooked black lentil.

The lamb was sumptuous and it was obvious that the lengthy cooking process had contributed to the variety and depth of flavour given to the meat. The accompanying Dhall Makhani made a great accompaniment with its velvety texture.

For dessert, I went for Gulab Jamun, which was sweet dumpling made from reduced milk, whilst my companion went for Gajjar Halwa, which is traditional carrot cake. Both were fantastic, elegant in their sweetness and a wonderful end to a relentless satisfying meal.

64 Parkway
Camden
NW1 7AH
Tel: 020 7485 5977

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