Cuisine: Indian

Cost:

Rating:

Where?: 142, Battersea high Street, London. SW11 3JR.

Closest station(s): Clapham Junction.

Telephone: 020 7228 3145

Website: www.varanasichefs.co.uk

Varanasi Chefs is tucked away on Battersea High Street, a rather shabby road that I had not eaten on previously. The décor is pretty standard for a run of the mill Indian restaurant, perfectly comfortable and welcoming however little more. The menu immediately caught my attention with a selection of dishes that don’t prescribe to the standard ‘samosa, bhaji, sheikh kebab, chicken tikka’ formula that you find on so many high street Indian restaurant menus. Here instead you have papri chaat, aloo tikki chaat and the wonderfully named lamb mo mo. So, the menu may be a little out of the ordinary however at Varanasi Chefs prices (pretty much all starters under £5) I wasn’t expecting them to be anything special.

The starters that arrived at the table were stunning, real effort has been made to make the starters a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach. These starters have the look of those you would find in an upmarket Indian restaurant; this is certainly more Benares or Cinnamon Kitchen than your bog standard high street Indian restaurant. The starters were without exception excellent.

The mains that followed were also very good, however they could not quite live up to the theatre or excellence of the starters. The sides, roti and naan were all particularly good – the Daal was one of the finest I have had.

I hold great affection for Varanasi Chefs, the staff are extremely friendly and attentive and the house wine comes in around £13. The last time I went I just had starters, which turned out to be a great meal. In addition, the restaurant often has offers in place that make the already reasonably priced food an absolute steal.