Hidden away in the City, Anokha is a pretty sophisticated, award-winning Indian restaurant, located in a Grade II listed building – originally two of London’s last remaining tea warehouses. Be warned, the entrance is easy to miss, an understated doorway leads into a more luxurious interior and down some stairs into the restaurant itself.
The menu is extensive and offers a mix of our favourite dishes alongside more unusual choices. If you are a fan of fish, then this menu has a lot to offer!
We started with the duck tikka, duck breast marinated in herbs and spices and grilled in the tandoori oven, and the crab cakes. We’ve never had duck in an Indian restaurant before but the tikka flavour, most often associated with chicken, fit well with the tender duck meat left pink in the middle – just how we like it. The delicate flavour of the crab wasn’t overpowered by the spices and they didn’t have the floury taste that sometimes comes with too much potato in the mix.
To follow we went with lamb special – a North Indian speciality of slow cooked lamb cubes flavoured with the chef’s special spices – and the monkfish rogan cooked in a rich tomato and garlic sauce. The recommended lamb special was served in a metal serving dish covered with a thin pastry topping, almost like a pie! The curry itself was rich with a deep flavour from the slow cooking of the lamb. It had just the right amount of spice so as not to be overpowering. The monkfish was well cooked and retained its shape and texture in the sauce, no easy feat!
If you like to try something different from your usual chicken tikka masala then Anokha is a good bet. Other options on the menu included catfish, sea bass and salmon, alongside chicken, lamb and duck mains.
A few minutes walk from Liverpool St and almost under the shadow of the Gherkin, Anokha is an Indian restaurant to impress. And you’re sure to find a dish to suit everyone’s tastes.
For more information, visit: http://www.anokha-indian.com
