You may or may not have noticed, but I have a bit of a soft spot for Chakra in Kensington and so when I found out they had a shiny new site in Little Venice – I snapped up the opportunity to visit. The new space is looking gorgeous inside and location-wise, it is perfectly placed in such a relaxing and tranquil part of the Little Venice area, surrounded by quaint cafes and cherry blossom trees.
We sat down at our table, perused the menu and ordered a bottle of red wine that was recommended by the team and went down a treat. They don’t seem to be serving cocktails at this site, but being familiar with the Chakra brand, I definitely think they should as they always do them so well. With our glass of wine in hand, we tucked into what every Indian meal must and always should start with – a selection of papadums and homemade chutneys. All of the yoghurts, chutneys and papadums here were excellent and we left nothing but empty pots behind. The mango chutney in particular was great.
Another excellent choice here was the Lucknowi samosa chaat. Two huge Punjabi style samosas, sat on a mouth-watering bed of spiced chickpeas, topped with mint, tamarind, yoghurt and sev. Samosa chaat is one of my favourite Indian dishes and they really did it justice here, smothered in lots of sauce and the samosas had the perfect crunch.
A dish that no visit to Chakra should be without (there’s going to be a lot of these) is the chilli chicken. Succulent morsels of lightly battered shredded chicken, sauteed with pepper, fresh chilli and spring onions. It’s a really lovely plate of food and portion-wise it was very generous – so make sure you come hungry. This dish felt very Indo-Chinese to me – something I’m really enjoying seeing more of on Indian restaurant menus across the capital over the last few years.
If I had to pick a single dish I absolutely love ordering when dining in an Indian restaurant, it would be paneer tikka (cottage cheese). Here it was marinated in a thick coating of spices and served with slices of mixed peppers and onions – which were all grilled to perfection. The paneer tikka was perfectly cooked meaning not an ounce of chewiness insight and each mouthful was incredibly mouthwatering as those flavours and smears of dipping sauces tantalised the taste buds.
The star of the show had to be this colourful lamb biryani. Not only was it beautiful to look at, dressed with edible flowers and pomegranate – but the smell when it arrived at the table was so aromatic and filled our noses with notes of saffron and other exotic spices. Succulent chunks of marinated lamb, basmati rice, fried onions, mint and rose petal – this is one dish that certainly should not be missed.
We paired our biryani with some fantastic bread, raita and a truly excellent dal makhani. The latter if you’ve never ordered it before is a mixture of slow-cooked black gram, kidney beans with burnt garlic, tomatoes and brown onion. It’s thick, rich, packed with flavour and is a great dish to add a little sauce to any dish and the bread is perfect for mopping up the leftovers.
To finish, a selection of kulfi on sticks. Rose and pistachio to be exact. Each was such a joy to eat and the perfect way to near the end of our meal. We had such a lovely afternoon at Chakra Little Venice and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for authentic, modern Indian food in a very pretty area of town. The food is punchy, has personality, is traditional and most importantly – it’s all very affordable. Plus the service is excellent. Would we come back? Absolutely!
