You don’t have to be a regular listener to the Off Menu podcast to know that ‘poppadoms or bread?’ is a divisive subject. The correct answer, of course, is bread, but I am also partial to a poppadom. Indeed, the colourful basket of poppadoms at Kush, in Clifton, was even inviting enough to turn the head of my poppadom-averse fiancé. Kush, if you don’t already know, is the new opening from Aktar Islam, best known for his two-Michelin-starred Indian restaurant Opheem in Birmingham and, more recently, his new restaurant Oudh 1722 in London.
The Indian restaurant as a genre is not immune to the struggles of a rollout. Mowgli is a prime example: brilliant when I visited the first site in Manchester, decidedly average by the time it arrived in Bristol, some 20 branches later. But then there’s Dishoom, which has maintained quality across the 11 sites it now has. For Kush’s rollout, I sincerely hope it follows in the footsteps of Dishoom rather than Mowgli. If it does, the country is in for a treat.
Though the unusual pricing structure – two courses for £30, three for £35, four for £40 – will have you envisaging individualistic batting away of straying hands, you’d do well to share. Dishes like the chicken biryani, which comes with a domed hat of bronzed pastry to be dramatically shattered tableside, have a £5 surcharge, while the truffle and cheese naan is an extra £3. Both are worth forking out for. As are the on-the-verge-of-collapse ox cheeks in the rich nihari sauce. It does rather make you think that it may have been easier to price the dishes separately, but such nitpicking is quickly forgotten in the face of crisp tamarind chicken wings and a creamy samosa chaat. The bone marrow with crispy chilli beef and a Malabar paratha (£7 surcharge) was unavailable on our visit, which means that returning is inevitable.
Drinks, too, are excellent. The Picante is a house cocktail of mezcal, lime and agave, laced with coriander and glistening with chilli salt. Though there’s ample wine by the glass and bottle, a couple of lagers on draft and more in the fridge, it’s the cocktail list to which you should really pay attention.
Service is nicely tempered, and thoughtful interior details suggest time well spent on the design. Apparently, Aktar Islam isn’t there very often – understandable given his burgeoning empire. Does this mean he has discovered the key to a successful rollout? Either way, Kush is nailing it.
