Last month London got its first Indian cocktail bar Zenna, located above Indian restaurant The Red Fort. With all of the press surrounding Zenna we thought we’d check out The Red Fort – we didn’t want it feeling all left out.
The restaurant which has been around for 18 years, is located on Dean Street amongst a host of better known, trendier restaurants and we have to admit if we were coming to Soho for a meal we would never have considered it before. Mainly because we didn’t know too much about it, but thankfully now we do.
The décor is slightly more upmarket than your usual curry house and the white table clothes and chairs make it seem like a business type place. When we visited the tables were full of men in suits and even some working on laptops whilst dining – city life eh?
But as we found out the food is the pull here, each dish is well thought out with cleverly used spices and textures.
We started with the Starter Selection for two consisting of five small pieces of different starters. The chicken was possibly the best cooked chicken we’ve ever come across and the salmon and prawns were fresh and tasty. At £25 for two it’s not cheap but worth it if you fancy sampling a few dishes.
For mains we opted for the Paneer do Piaza and Hyderabadi Bhuna Gosht with a selection of breads and pulao rice. Both dishes had a real kick to them and the different spices used gave them a real depth of flavour, which in our eyes is the sign of a good curry. The selection of breads served fresh from the oven were nice and light and the rice was fluffy and tasty which really complemented the thick, dense curry sauces.
The Red Fort gets a big thumbs up from us. It maybe a little more expensive than its neighbours but if you’re looking for restaurant style Indian food in Soho it’s top of our list.
The Red Fort, 77 Dean Street, Soho, W1D