I visited RAAZ Modern Indian in Lower Richmond Road at the end of September and was pleasantly surprised at the well-established nature of the restaurant despite being so early in its lifespan.
The service was warm and highly attentive from the off as we were shown an enticing cocktail menu from which a lychee royale and a kiwi club were selected by my mum and I.
Drinks took no time to arrive and were accompanied by a small crate of poppadoms and chutneys.
Poppadoms and chutneys(Image: Gianni Cirillo)
I can safely say these were the nicest poppadoms I had ever had.
They weren’t thin and dainty like most. They were thick and had a hearty snap when broken – making for a more substantial snack than usual.
We opted for the wild garlic chicken chop from the ‘tandoor grill’ section of the menu and the prawn chettinad from the ‘small plates’ list.
Both of these plates were more than enough to act as starters – if anything slightly too hefty.
The chicken was tender, generously seasoned and provided a tingle of heat on the tongue whilst the prawns were thick and rich and lay on a bed of savoy cabbage that helped to balance out the dishes.
Both were served with intricately flavoured purees – the avocado one in particular helped to counteract the growing heat of the chicken chop.
For our main course we chose the butter chicken curry and the Rajasthani lamb shank and our waiter recommended we shared a basmati rice, a chilli-cheese naan and a portion of the seasonal vegetable.
As we waited for our mains, the restaurant was welcoming in new diners by the minute and within a quarter-of-an-hour, it went from pretty empty inside to absolutely bustling.
The waiters were striking up conversations with guests and chef Imran Mansuri, who founded RAAZ, even came out to say hello personally.
The building had a buzzing and lively atmosphere and felt already like an esteemed and thriving establishment.
The butter chicken was ‘from Delhi to Putney’ according to the menu and certainly tasted like it.
It was rich, creamy and decadent and truly unique compared to the butter chicken curries I’d had before.
Instead of chunks of meat distributed throughout the dish, it came served with a bone-in breast centred around a moat of sauce.
This presentation, for me, elevated the dish to a new level.
It was refreshing to carve the chicken myself and mop up the sauce as I like rather than spoon the dish as a whole over my rice as I would in a traditional curry house.
The lamb shank was presented in a similar fashion, with a striking piece of meat propped up in the serving plate amongst a thick and flavourful sauce.
The lamb was beautifully tender and barely required the work of a knife.
A fork and spoon did the job.
It packed more of a kick than the butter chicken but together they made for a wonderful duo of mains to share with a few spoonfuls of rice and a couple pieces of cheesy naan each.
My only slight criticism of the meal was the seasonal vegetables which combined a medley of courgette, green beans and baby sweetcorn with quite the punch of spice.
Personally, I deemed this a notch too high for my spice tolerance, especially when unsuspectingly I bit directly into a chilli and spent the next five minutes fanning myself and glugging water.
Then again, spice levels are subjective and it was a tasty dish of greens overall.
Utterly stuffed but highly satisfied with what we had eaten, we could only share a rasmalai trifle for desert.
This was much like a traditional trifle in terms of its layering but something quite new to me in terms of the taste.
It incorporated exotic notes of mango and delicately flavoured cream and proved a refreshing final mouthful.
RAAZ provided a fresh Indian dining experience that I hadn’t come across before and offers far more than a traditional curry house.
If you like the recognisable tastes of south Asia but fancy somewhat of a twist on the well-known execution of mainstream Indian restaurants, I would highly recommend booking a table at RAAZ soon.
