Sourdough bread was provided from flourish bakery and was good quality.  The meal started with some of my favourite nibbles of cheese gougeres. What was a treat were the oxtail croquette with horseradish and watercress mayonnaise and these were absolutely delightful with a thin, light batter.

My main was a conchiglie pasta dish with egg yolk and winter truffles from Australia which I have to say was very good.  A flame-grilled mackerel with capers and cucumber was enjoyed by my dining companion.  Another dish of ravioli of langoustines came with Sicilian tomatoes and was absolutely plump inside with the nicely handled langoustines.  This was very good, thin pasta with a lovely sauce was a genuine treat to have with a crunch of the broad bean and I was very impressed with this dish.  In fact, this is worthy of coming back to here again just for this dish.  A dessert of pain perdu was very nice to have and was followed by the safe bet option of Nespresso coffee at £3.50.

There is a lot to like about this restaurant – reliability, competency and enjoyable flavours.  What would be even better is if the canapes were not charged and provided with the chefs compliments as many, many other establishments do and to include petit four to upscale the very normal coffee.  However, it is a very good choice of a restaurant and I was pleased to see it still in good form.

Food Grade: 80%

The pita bread was a pleasure to rip up and share together, the mackerel was utterly fresh, the lamb salad was a bowl of lovely ingredients with sardines in tempura batter that worked really well with the pickled carrots.  The highlight for me was probably the aromatic sauce at the bottom of the bowl of the duck, foie gras and water chestnuts and pretty amazing that was on the set menu as well.  The sorbets (particularly the coconut) were pleasant but seemed too sweet unfortunately.

Sadly, the negative of this trip was the initial welcome / entry as my party and another guest were not even acknowledged waiting with the front door half open by the front of house on the phone.  Of course one can’t do two things at the same time but sometimes just a glimpse or signal that you are at least acknowledged and not having to stand outside for 60 seconds is all that it takes.  On entering, we were left alone for another short while and the lady on the ground floor on the other phone saw us and walked away.

Although this is not the end of the world, they are easily done in a better way and this is the difference I think between a 1 Michelin starred venue and, in the main, those that have 2 or 3.  Not doing it well simply sticks in the mind more than the better things.  Service upstairs where we ate was better but not as easy and in control as the more assured starred venues that exist.

For the uneasing of lockdowns, the covers to be made available had to drop from 200 covers down to 120. Bread was homemade focaccia which was very good and served with Sardinian salami.  The first small course was veal which was good quality, served with tuna and with a lively kick of caper sauce.  Linguine with lobster and sweet chili was the clear winner for my guest (and was good) and my tagliolini with black Summer truffle from Umbria was actually wonderful.

Desserts were a mix of classic tiramisu which was served on a brandy snap and was very well done as one can expect. Another one chosen was a cheesecake with a sour cherry ice cream and this was also good. Coffee was from Drury coffee and the petit fours consisted of apricot and coconut, chocolate truffle and caramel, a crostini with apricot and lemon curd and mini ice cream and hazelnut.  Quite a lot of effort on just the petit fours alone and this was definitely a notch up from my abysmal first visit in general.

Food Grade: 74%

Naan breads were wonderfully fluffy but not too thick and served with a very good gooseberry chutney which was a pleasant change from mango.  Pink prawns, coconut, sesame and Roscoff onion were meaty and sweet. The lamb I have had before and is extremely good with real depth of lamb flavour, gently balanced with black cumin, sprouts, onion and yoghurt.  I’m actually struggling to think where in London I have actually had better lamb chops.

Morels with berries, wild mushroom, white turmeric and crisps was very good as I recall it so I was pleased that my dining companions who had not been there enjoyed this.  The panfried sea bass, curry leaf and coconut was a very delicate dish as is the fish, and both were treated exactly as they should be, the curry being a gentle accompaniment to the lovely sea bass cooked to perfection (much more difficult than most realise).   

Chicken tikka masala with fenugreek, tomato and Kashmiri chilli was a masterstroke.  I was curious to see how Kutir would handle this and the result was a bowl of sweetness and depth of tomato curry with succulent chicken contained within and at this point, I only wished I had a bowl of that and nothing else to fill me up as is usually the case when dining on Indian cuisine (very filling).  The Kutir kaali dal had good depth and was a luxurious dip for the naan.  Sadly none of my dessert photos made it successfully, but the two tried were well spiced and light at the same time.

Another very good experience here, which I would definitely put on your list of to do’s if you are in any way fond of curry, for this upgrade experience.  If this establishment received a Michelin star, I would say this is entirely appropriate.

The menu at Kutir is mainly North Indian cuisine but also showcases signature dishes from around the country.  Menu prices are not vast considering the location, but it is easy to get caught up with several attractive options from under £10 which will obviously add up.  For this visit, we tried the stone bass squid, scallops aubergine, truffle mushroom khichadi and I could not resist one on my favourite curries of all time, the duck korma.

Nibbles of breads, crackers and popadoms were the obvious nibbles, but crucially, were done well (not too oily at all) and served with very good chutneys especially the mango and pineapple spiced chutney.   The tandoori cooked stone bass came with squid ink and crisps and was marinated in yoghurt, cream cheese and spices making it nice and moist.  It included two little squid rings which, separately were very nice as well.  The scallops were hand-dived and served with aubergine frittas and puree which was pleasing, but the actual sweetness of the scallops was one of the gems of the whole meal.

Quail naan (naan bread with diced quail inside) with scrambled egg and truffle on the top was never going to fail as a combination, but it was a little tricky to eat with hands and actually qualified as a dish in itself when I was mainly after a naan to help mop up the korma.  This was duly provided in the form of a plain paratha, kulcha and naan and were all fine in texture (great to have the different kinds of breads on one side plate).

The lamb was another highlight in that it almost didn’t need its supporting cumin (but was delicately handled all the same) as the quality of this lamb was super providing excellent flavour.  Truffle khichadi (a form of kedgeree using lentils with rice) was rich and satisfying.  The duck korma was very good to have albeit with a korma sauce that I was expecting just a little more kick or excitement from.  Certainly not a negative though.

Dessert comprised of chilli chocolate banana mousse.  This was heavy but pleasant, along with ginger biscuit & dehydrated banana with creme brûlée using a hard & soya chocolate to accompany along with banana fritas on toffee.  This was a superb dessert and would rival a mass of desserts in any Michelin starred restaurant you care to mention and was a lovely finish to show that this ex-Jamavar head chef is still very much operating at a consistently high level and I look forward to returning when I can.  

The large whitebait with garlic mayonnaise was nice to have as an opener; the parfait that was shared was done well but the points rose with a very delicately and stylishly delivered steak with beautifully sweet and viscous red wine jus and the steak and kidney pie was just about as good as you can get technically, and as this is a place where care is taken to detail, the petits fours were a welcome alternative to dessert as we were actually quite full.

It was a very pleasing lunch here, showing sound technical skill and a good return on flavours.  The only negatives really are that it is so nice inside, it feels like a full-blown restaurant and not a pub, which therefore makes the exterior a bit of a let down aesthetically and a surprise to not be more like a pub inside.  The fact that one really does need a car for a meal here also reduces drink possibilities for one at least.  However, if it works with the journey, one will be pleased with the drop in.

The popadoms came in a variety of roasted (hard), shallow fried (beautifully soft) and in an unusual form more akin to crackers which were light and very good.  The sweet mango chutney and brown tomato chutneys were of course made on site and I found the sweet mango chutney certainly living up to its name as was almost jam-like, but it’s hard not to enjoy hand made popadoms with hand made mango chutney before an Indian meal, irrespective of the different takes on them.

Opting for the set evening menu, my starter of Ajwaini Salmon Tikka I thought was a delightful starter.  The spices were an interesting mix of carom seed and dill, the salmon itself with juicy texture and the soothing side of the yoghurt on the side.  Uncomplicated and satisfying.  One thing that was absolutely note-worthy was the wonderfully judged naan bread (perfect softness and flavour) and I would say more of these with a slightly less3 viscous version of their sweet mango chutney would be reason enough to request a table for that alone, a few drinks and then settle up.

The Nilgiri chicken kurma (kurma is slightly more heated than a korma) came with boneless chicken thighs, coriander, curry leaf and coconut.  For the price of the £28 for the three courses, the main was not only the kurma but came with basmati rice (nice and fluffy), spiced new potatoes (average flavour) and dahl which is puts the value for money even further ahead than it already is compared to other Michelin starred set menus.  However, my excitement at having a chicken thigh kurma (the best part of chicken meat with one of the best curry flavours) was stifled on the discovery of part of an elastic band in the food.  The chicken itself was definitely under cooked as parts of red were exposed even if the rest of the dish could be eaten.  After asking for things to be confirmed, the management came to ask where the ‘foreign object’ was discovered so that all other parts could be checked, gave sincere apologies and offered a glass of something to make up.  As pleasant a gesture as this is I couldn’t actually eat the rest of the dish as I was put off from the rest of it so I had to refrain from eating the main any further.

Finally, the fig and cardamom kheer (cardamom, pistachio, fig khulfi) was clearly a set menu offering and as creamy as the rice pudding-like kheer was, the fig kulfi ice cream in the centre was almost like ice and I just didn’t find that the combination of cold rice pudding and cardamom worked for me at all, with or without the crunch of the pistachio pieces on top.  Petit fours came in the form of orange jelly with a hint of chilli and an Indian shortcake which, unfortunately were not the best as well; the jelly was very tough and the shortcake had a nice texture but ultimately a bit flat.

So, overall the meal represented very good value for money, although in hindsight I would have preferred the price of the kurma to be removed as I did not want to eat the rest of it on discovery of the foreign object rather than a courtesy drink, but the management dealt with it in an entirely graceful manner.  Charm and hospitality can cover most sins, but ultimately, for a Michelin starred venue, this was a disappointing meal.

Nibbles came in the form of crisps of potato, squid ink and parmesan, cod skin and Skyer yoghurt with parsley and chives & star anise as a novel and pleasing way to start (particularly the cod skin).  Spanish oils from the North and South of Spain with the scorching climate of the south of Spain producing an oil lighter in colour and perhaps a little softer in flavour.

The amuse bouche of tomato gazpacho with tomato snow was virtually identical from 7 years ago and still as refreshing with its basil and lemon grass and this time served in a shellfish.  For starters I opted for salmon with mustard skyr, cumin powder, sorrel snow, sorrel, pickled cucumber and rye bread.  The semi-wild salmon (caught from Scottish lochs and placed straight in to ice containers and moved by train immediately to London) was beautifully soft and not too oily.  The salmon itself was cooked only slightly (to retain moisture and to not lose too much protein that will escape as a result) and the blow-torched to help tighten and pull together.  For all the effort however, it definitely needed the other elements to bring it more to life in flavour; the  mustard skyr with dill was lovely and thank god for the pickled cucumber which gave it the general lift it needed.

The Elwy valley Welsh lamb shoulder, was served with spring onions, and heritage carrots – this was a visually pleasing show, with the saddle parts of the lamb being smoked at the table utterly succulent tender saddle lamb.  However, for all the visuals, the lamb saddles were not as smokey as the picture suggested at all, but they were utterly tender to the bite.  The shoulder of lamb was far more successful in flavour return.

Pre-dessert was a clove and ginger sabayon with sorrel granita and this was actually a very good combination.  The sabayon made with yolks, wine and sugar gave a rich and sweet quality to the earthy and icy granita and was an original and fresh transition.  The main dessert was not the house speciality of skyr but the set menu lunch version with sweetened skyr yoghurt, granola, melon and meadow sweet.  The  granita was again a mix of earthy, creaminess compared to most desserts and the yoghurt worked in a rich way that seemed somehow healthy at the same time.  A take-away bag of petit four completed an impressive set menu lunch with some definitely good hits on return.

I would say that this is still a text book example of how Michelin starred dining can be enjoyed with not too much to fear in a stylish but relaxed environment where the staff were accommodating, not too formal and with an extremely reasonable £38.81 final price tag all in including service for 8 courses.  It isn’t at the top of the 1 Michelin starred family as lunch menus go for overall impact, but you cannot argue with the value for money and the food was certainly not offensive at the same time.  Recommended for anyone that wishes to have a peek at modern and fine dining without breaking the bank.