The Observer
At lunchtime there are thalis at £14.90 built around the likes of butter chicken or tandoori paneer. Or there are bigger dishes priced in the mid-teens, which are proof once more of the power and joy, the depth and profundity, of brown food. The Punjabi lamb curry has a thick gravy the colour of freshly turned London clay, heavy with roasted spice and the sort of acidity that opens everything up. The dal makhani is described as having been simmered for 48 hours and there is a buttery-rich quality to it that suggests they really aren’t kidding. Come for the lamb tacos; stay for the lentils. Assume no one is watching and spoon it neat from the bowl. It’s cold and raining out there. Yellow weather warnings are in place. This dal will keep any storm at bay.
We forgo a side of rice in favour of the chicken biryani, served in its own cast-iron pot. Take off the lid and breathe in the hot waves of cardamom and the sweetness of caramelised onions in among each spice-dusted long grain. Lubricate it with a little of the snowy garlic yoghurt with which it arrives. Or scoop it away with a crisp-crusted naan filled with pickled chillies and stringy cheese, which feels like the sort of thing you might order after a long session down the pub, when boozy appetite is fully in charge, rather than before. That one item shows a particular determination to feed. The sense is very much of a kitchen which, given the price point, is putting its back into the cooking rather more than might be expected.
Desserts are sweet, creamy things. Sliced orbs of syrupy gulab jamun, for example, come on a splodge of rabdi, made by simmering sugar-rich milk with cardamom and saffron until it thickens. It’s topped with almonds and pistachios, and serves as a great defence against the miserable, thrashing weather outside. The Great Indian might be a slightly grandstanding name for this newcomer, but it sits comfortably alongside places like the Tamil Prince, only a few miles away, which have helped redefine what the gastropub might be. Doubtless, some locals will feel they’ve lost an old boozer. They should think, instead, of having gained a great Indian restaurant.
Jay Rayner - 2025-02-09
