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hilst London has always been a trailblazer in terms of art, culture, fashion and finance, it historically fell short in the restaurant scene. However, over the course of the past decade or so, nothing short of a culinary revolution has swept through London. Today the British capital’s food scene is now on a par with New York in terms of showcasing the best global cuisine at different price points, via low to highbrow experiences that span everything from hipster vegan and street food to fine dining and well-heeled gourmet institutions. London has always excelled at stodgy luxury and counterculture funkiness, but it has taken time for the city to truly embrace its multicultural side with pride and panache. In recent years, world class Peruvian, Mexican, Japanese and Middle Eastern establishments have opened alongside a plethora of more refined Mediterranean eateries. Even British cuisine has taken giant leaps forward, led by innovative chefs drawing upon the country’s many strengths, not least farm-to-table produce, quality meats and bountiful freshly-caught seafood. The London dining experience has also become a lot more fun of late. West End neighbourhoods like Soho and Covent Garden, as well as Shoreditch in the east, all positively hum with a breezy and buzzy cosmopolitan atmosphere especially in the summer months. Due to its colonial ties, Great Britain has always excelled at Indian cuisine, to the point where chicken tikka masala is practically considered a national dish, and a curry take away is as ubiquitous as fish and chips. Whilst the vast majority of the U.K.’s Indian venues cater more to the mass-market, increasingly Indian food establishments have trended towards going upmarket. Nowhere is this more evident than in London. Whilst London has always been known for having some of the best Indian restaurants outside of the motherland, nowadays the quality of these offerings and the settings in which diners feast are on a par with the best of any cuisine that the city has to offer. Since it opened to virtually immediate critical acclaim in Delhi in 2009, Indian Accent has consistently been ranked as the best restaurant in India and one of the most celebrated in the world. Founder Rohit Khattar and executive chef Manish Mehrotra’s traditional Indian cuisine refashioned into something more modern, more global and, quite frankly, rather special, made the restaurant an instant hit. The Delhi mother ship achieved global cult foodie status by way of its tasting menus that showcased its most popular dishes while embracing the challenge of introducing innovative new ones. Recently it moved from its cosy Manor Hotel birthplace to the more central, exclusive and architecturally dramatic Lodhi Hotel, located in a smart, tree-lined residential area 10 minutes from Connaught Place. New York was chosen for Indian Accent’s first foray outside India, the Big Apple having always been under-represented in terms of Asian cuisine. The 2016 opening of Indian Accent in Midtown’s Le Parker Meridien reset the bar for upscale Indian dining in New York pretty much overnight. There were high expectations of Indian Accent’s London opening. Could its high-end and innovative Indian cuisine carve a niche for itself in the face of well-established and much-loved competition? ►
218 The Cultured Traveller Sep-Nov 2018