London does not lack for competition when it comes to high-end Indian restaurants, yet there is always room for more. When Indian Accent opened just under a year ago, expectations were certainly high for the venture, given the plaudits accorded to the original in New Delhi and its first offshoot in New York. Choosing to locate yourself on the same street as London’s Gymkhana is also tantamount to laying down a challenge; we can do at least as well, if not better than you. A recent visit saw both my dining comrade and I highly impressed by Indian Accent. Both of us are experienced eaters of Indian food and sceptics by nature, yet even with this context, it was difficult to fault Indian Accent, and certainly not in terms of food or pricing. The venue oozes grown-up sophistication and refinement in terms of the clean and minimalist décor, with dark green and gold dominating, marble flooring contrasting with wood finishing (note the marked contrast to the colonial angle pursued by nearby Gymkhana). In terms of the food, the idea at Indian Accent is one of progression: using modern techniques and innovative combinations to update the perhaps more conventional perceptions associated with Indian food. Dish six on the omnivores’ tasting menu best epitomises this idea: take a chicken tikka, but then add green chilli cream, sugar snap peas and summer truffle. Other dishes showed even greater panache and boundary-pushing. Stand-out in this respect was the Kashmiri morel served with walnut powder and a parmesan papad (pictured), a dish of lightness yet intensity, full of verve and culinary daring. Presentation throughout was superlative, and most of the dishes came paired intelligently with interesting wines (the morel, for example, matched with an oxidised Spanish rioja). Service left some room for improvement with not all of our servers demonstrating perhaps the charisma that diners at such a venue might expect. Nonetheless, at £85/head, this is an experience worth repeating. This is a venue that talks my kind of language.
PS: if you have not seen, a thank you to Feedspot for including my blog in its top-ten UK restaurant blogs to follow in 2019: https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_restaurant_review_blogs/