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I still reminisce about Chef Kamaladasan’s taster menu from last September. I have been longing to return to the Indian Ocean to experience the multi award-winning restaurant ever since.

For those of you who didn’t read my previous review, The Indian Ocean offers a taster menu once a month to showcase a variety of their home-style Indian dishes on a 7 course menu.

The restaurant is unrecognisable from the old days. The then cheap and cheerful everyday Indian restaurant has been transformed into a striking, lighter, and significantly more stylish experience. It perfectly matches the pristine contemporary cuisine that awaits, which is further complimented with the highly professional and formal service that accompanies it. Giving an overall fine dining experience not seen anywhere north of Cambridge.

Honestly, the service is impeccable and has an air of prestige and formality rarely seen elsewhere. One particular touch that sets it apart from other restaurants is a dedicated person who will talk you through the food as it is served. This brings the cuisine to life and helps you understand the work and ideas behind it.

For £65 a head, I honestly don’t know how they do it?

The menu gives you a choice between a meat and vegetarian menu. It was great to see such attention given to the vegetarian menu, as vegetarian food often feels like an after thought in many restaurants.

I was joined by my mother who has a keen eye for fine dining but is also happy to eat vegetarian food – so we ordered one each. A testament to the quality of the vegetarian menu was how many of her dishes I wanted on my own plate!

1st course

We both started with a vegetarian dish, the crispy kale, spiced sweet potato, and yogurt.

2nd course

Our second course was another vegetarian dish. Plantain, savoy cabbage, masala soya. Pakora and coconut chutney.

3rd course

The third course for the meat menu was the stone bass, scallop mousse, goan curry and pickled mango.

My mum’s vegetarian options was the tandoori broccoli, Goan curry and pickled mango.

4th course

The raspberry sorbet was a very welcome mid dinner refreshment. I was surprised at how thick and rich they were able to make it.

5th course

Below: Pheasant, alleppey pineapple curry and curry leaf oil

The vegetarian option was the paneer, alleppey pineapple curry and curry leaf oil.

6th course

Railway veal curry with pilau rice.

This was probably my favourite dish of the evening. The veal was so rich and tender, and came accompanied with a gorgeous spiced sauce.

Masala dosa with lentil stew. This is one of my favourite all time dishes. It took a lot of strength for me not to raid my mother’s plate when it came presented in an unusual cone shape rather than the wrap it is well known for. A truly unique take that worked so well.

7th course

The gulab jamon cheese cake was a highlight of the evening. Speaking with Kamal, he explained that the level of detail and work that goes into this particular dish is very high. Something I could really appreciate while eating, due to the complexity of flavours throughout the bite.

Conclusion

The Indian Ocean sent us home floating, like we have not only enjoyed a marvellous meal but were taken on a journey on culinary excellence. The surroundings, the service, and cuisine were all on a level I would expect from a fine dining establishment and more.

I was particularly fond of the variety on the menu, from the stone bass to the veal. There were combinations of ingredients on the menu that I thought would never work (such as pineapple with pheasant) that really challenged my ideas on cooking and further opened my own perceptions on how I look at food in the future.

With all this for such a reasonable price, I urge everyone to visit and experience this for themselves.

Thanks for reaching