Good schools and brunch yes, haute cuisine maybe not.
And yet Shiuli, open since 2021, offers Indian food from Alfred Prasad, who earned a Michelin star at Tamarind in 2002 – the joint-first Indian restaurant to gain the accolade.Burrata chaat (Image: Newsquest)
From our short interaction, Alfred came across as gentle, gracious, and warm. He looked like he ran.
The menu at Shiuli is similar. He told me he wanted to move away from Indian food’s reputation of being “heavy”.
Hence you have mains like ‘skinny’ makhani chicken, made without butter or cream and the mango lassi, which our waiter described as “less yoghurt, more mango”, and a good vegetarian and vegan menu.
As well as being better for you, the food aims to be better for the planet with broccoli roasted with a hazelnut crumb promising to be the most sustainable item on the menu.
But this does not mean the food was not indulgent. It is rich, and not in any way austere.
The naans were unlike any I have ever had. Many-layered like parottas and variously filled – from the usual garlic, to the less usual bone marrow or date and coconut.
The lamb chops came highly recommended, arrived out of the smoky kitchen deliciously charred and left me picking up the bone with my fingers to get the last off.
Everyone agreed they were the highlight.
The most indulgence came from the dessert, which I was happy with, as this is exactly how it should be.
I want to know I have just eaten a pile of sweet stuff that I probably shouldn’t have. Only then do you know to stop eating.
Textures of Chocolate was essentially chocolate three ways, as fondant, gelato and ‘chocolate soil’.
A strong crumble was outshone by the saffron custard, so you really wanted custard with a side of crumble.
Traditional desserts were represented by carrot halva, a pudding made with semolina, butter and sugar.
Everything about this was comforting, the soft texture warm cardamom making it about as close as I would want to get to eating a blanket.
Like the food, the interior of Shiuli has rid itself of stereotypes. The walls are a calming green rather than red and gold.
The central bar delivered delicious predinner cocktails, if slightly slowly, making Shiuli a place where you could spend time as well as eat well.
Shiuli is on the pricier side of places, with mains for around £20 and starters around £10, so this is somewhere for a treat. And a treat it delivers.
