Kanishka – Culinary delights of North East India by Atul Kochhar

Kanishka is an Indian cuisine by Atul Kochhar which can be found in the heart of Mayfair.

I had the pleasure of attending the other day on a complimentary invite along with another member of Love Pop Ups London community Steve in which we dined on a 3 course menu from the A La Carte menu.

Kanishka

Kanishka is owned by Michelin Chef Atul Kochhar back in March 2019.

Atul Kochhar’s latest restaurant Kanishka is set in the heart of Mayfair.

Kanishka focusses on the unexplored cuisine from the so called ‘Sister States’ of India which is in the North East from sates Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura.

Within the North East region they offer a mixed culture of Hinduism, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism which reflects in the cuisine. Sumptuous North East dishes come with a combination of a humble approach and a complex melange of flavours. There is less use of spices and oils in this region, compared to rest of India.

Keeping with the food culture from it’s vibrant and renowned heritage culinary created dishes are served within Kanishka with cooking methods such as steaming, boiling, grilling, curing and preserving.

Atul Kochhar

Atul Kochhar is a Chef, Author, TV Personality,  Humanitarian and Ambassador for a number of Charities.

He was the first Chef to be awarded a Michelin Star for Indian cuisine within the UK.

He now holds two Michelin Stars – 1 star awarded at Tamarind London and the second for Benares London.

Atul has also written a number of successful cookbooks and has had his recipes featured in international publications whilst also appearing in many food broadcasts on UK TV such as Million Dollar Menu, Saturday Kitchen plus numerous TV appearances around the world.

Dining at Kanishka

Upon approaching Kanishka I was wowed by the floral decoration framing the doorway.

At present the doorway has been decorated with flowers as in celebration for the Chelsea Flower Show which a number of London restaurants are involved in. I especially loved the elephants out of evergreen bushes.

Entering Kanishka I was met with blue tones which are used within the restaurant from the walls tom the chairs, making it feel modern and bright. The tables are also well spaced out which is great.

Culinary delights

On opening up the menu there was an array of options to choose from. Even though I enjoy meat I enjoy eating seafood more so for both of my courses I chose dishes which contained seafood.

Before being served up my starters I was treated to a cocktail. I chose Atul’s signature cocktail which was called Atul’s Passion Fruit Martini. It was a mix of Ketal One Vodka, Passion Fruit Chutney, Passion Fruit, Lemon Juice and sugar. It was orgasmic as was punchy, sharp and sweet giving my taste buds a real sensation.

Before our starters we were served poppadoms served three ways. One looked and tasted a little like a prawn cracker, there was some small round poppadoms which tasted like a regular poppadom and some thick crunchy looking type poppadoms which had a real crunch to them. All tasted with and without the fruity chutney that accompanied them.

For my starters I had the Tibeten Lobster Thukpa which was delicious. The soup consisted of northern noodles, lobster meat and spring vegetables. This soup was divine and a little spicy but the succulent lobster meat helped break down the spiciness with it’s slightly sweet mild meatiness. If you have never had lobster before tastes a little like a large shrimp.

Before mains we were served a bottle of white wine called La Troubadour which comes from France. It was not dry at all and had a lovely sweetness of crisp apple and pear flavours followed with a note of peach on the finish. I am not usually a lover of wine but I really enjoyed this one.

For mains we had an array of sides to accompanied our mains.

This selection bread of Nann, Parattha and Roti was delicious. Fresh and cooked to perfection.

The Basmati rice was lovely with its distinctive nutty flavor and unique, slightly floral aroma.

The Mizoram Bamboo Shoot, Mushroom and Green Beans was a delight from it’s crunchy textures to soft textures.

For my mains I had the Seafood Alleppey Curry which consisted of pan seared seafood, coconut and turmeric sauce. The turmeric gave that hint of spiciness but all components of this dish worked beautifully together. The seafood was all cooked to perfection with the squid being firm but not too chewy, the razor clam was full of flavour, the fish succulent, and the prawn sweet and meaty. A curry and seafood lovers dream.

For dessert I opted for Chocolate Kulcha which was Valrhona dark, white and milk chocolate kulcha with Kentish Strawberry Mala. I loved the smooth runny chocolate within the kulcha which is like a flat bread and the mousse type topping with melted white chocolate sauce worked perfectly with the dish cutting the rich sweetness from the dark chocolate within the kulcha.

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Finally to end the night we were given some sweet candies. One tasted like a soft chocolate nougat and the other was like a sugary sweet jelly.

Before leaving and heading home I asked if Atul was in but sadly he was not as he was doing an interview for radio.

Luckily though I have met him before as one of his other restaurants Indian Essence which he visits often which is just down the road to where I live.

Verdict

For me as I am a big fan of celebrity chefs and a fan of Atul’s I loved Kanishka. I have dined in many of his other restaurants over the past few years and for me this one is one of my new favourites.

I love that it sells North Eastern Indian food and is run by Atul who I should remind you all is a Michelin Starred Chef. The food was excellent and the restaurant is warm and has a lovely atmosphere.

However saying this I have not been to many Indian restaurants and have always been by Atul to be fair. Reason I have not been to many Indian restaurants is because I have only just recently in my life started to explore spicy food as I have never been a fan of spice. However I am becoming to love it.

All in all if you are looking for Indian cuisine and wanting to impress friends, colleagues or your date then I highly recommend Kanishka.

I and Steve loved it.

Book

Kanishka
17 – 19 Maddox Street
Mayfair
London W1S 2QH

At Kanishka there are various menus to choose from:

Lunch Set Menu
2 Courses £24 | 3 Courses £29 
12:00pm–14:30pm, Monday–Saturday

Early and Late Dinner 
17:30pm–18:30pm & 21:30pm onwards, Monday–Sunday

Tasting Menu
£69 per person £120 per person with pairing wines

A La Carte Menu
Various prices

Discover more and book via clicking here.

Thank you to Atul of Kanishka for the invite. All views are my own honest opinion.

Click below to discover more and get blog link to the other community member of Love Pop Ups London community who joint me on the visit. His write up is of his own honest opinion.

Kanishka