Farzi Cafe London Review: An Indian Sunday Feasting Brunch Like No Other

Ever dreamt of a brunch with more food than you could ever eat in one afternoon? Well guess what, I’ve found it! In case you haven’t already heard of the eponymous Farzi Cafe, it’s a phenomenon in India, with 10 restaurants across the country and even one in Dubai. Best known for its molecular gastronomy, this new London outpost is a little more restrained with its molecular flair I think that’s a good thing because London is over the gimmicky theatrics in my opinion – unless you’re drinking cocktails. Farzi Cafe London offers modern Indian cooking, but still traditional in its approach.

The Sunday Feasting Bruch Menu here is priced at £39pp and I must say, its excellent value for money. You won’t leave hungry and you certainly won’t be able to finish it all. Better still? You can wash the insane amounts of food down for an extra £19pp which gives you bottomless drinks for 2 hours and a choice of Cobra beer, house wine, Prosecco or soft drinks. Not to mention its looking rather lovely inside too and when we dined there was a DJ playing in the background.

To start our brunch, not one or two or three – but FIVE starters arrived. First out was some fermented rice pancakes with feta and baby asparagus which was simple, but pleasant enough. Masala egg omelette with crushed hash brown, green chilly mayo and chervil was absolutely delicious and turned an ordinary omelette dish into something much more special. I also loved the roasted pumpkin and courgette salad with goat’s curd mousse and honey truffle. Again it felt simple, but it was very tasty and given the amount of dishes we had to eat, sometimes the fresh and simpler dishes were very much welcomed.

Next to arrive and still in the starters selection were two of my favourite dishes from the brunch menu. The brunch quesadilla, made up of butter chicken, kidney beans and smoked cheddar was like biting into a few pieces of heaven. As well as my winning dish of bangers & mash which was duck sausages, confit onion, green-pea grits and a cobra glaze. The sausages were absolutely beautiful, perfectly cooked and everything it arrived with was just a delight to eat. I especially remember those soft confit onions and that richly flavoured glossy glaze.

I think after all of those starters we could have been finished, but in the name of research we finished every bite of those five plates and prepared for the arrival of our main courses. If there was any cuisine that knows how to cooked chicken, it’s Indian. Between the quality of meats they use, smothering in juicy marinades or soaking in milk for extra tenderness, chicken is just never quite the same elsewhere. It’s exactly why you should order the tandoori chicken with masala onion rings, pickled cucumber and hot garlic chutney. A little spicy, the chicken was packed with flavour and that hot garlic chutney was good enough to want to lick the plate clean.

Now this next dish was one of the other main courses you could choose from (there’s also a 48h pre-order lamb shoulder slow cooked yogurt marinated shoulder, apricots, salli potato, rogan josh) and if you’re a vegetarian, you’ll be in heaven because as keen meat eaters, I’d have happily skipped it all to tuck into this vegetable goodness. Tandoor smoked jackfruit, soya boti kebab, malai paneer tikka and sweet corn seekh with artichoke pickle. I should also point out that my photo really doesn’t do this platter’s size justice, it was huge.

Accompanying the main courses are a selection of side dishes (just incase you were still hungry). A rich and glossy dal makhani, pulav rice, selection of breads and my favourite – Brussel sprouts with crispy cashew-nut poriyal.

For dessert we delved into an oozing candied chocolate fondant which was intensely rich and will most certainly spend at least a week on the hips. It came with a lemon cannelloni, strawberry short-cake and coconut sorbet. All of which I loved and the perfect dessert for sharing.

I really enjoyed our brunch at Farzi Cafe London and as far as value for money goes, it’s a bit of a bargain if you ask me and one I’d happily return for. The cooking may be modern, but most importantly it still feels very Indian and the cooking and ingredients are of quality, even if this brunch is about quantity. Would we come back? Yes!