Friday 27 March 2015

Carom Soho

Carom Soho
Finding an authentic Indian restaurant in London is like being faced by a mirage. From the outside they can look like the real deal, well appointed, authentic looking furnishings, traditional cooking smells wafting from the kitchen, and then the food arrives and you are totally underwhelmed. The food has little taste and someone has gone to town with the food colouring.

As a South London girl I have been spoilt with wonderful Indian restaurants and I now thankfully know the difference between authentic cooking and tasteless food made for a western palate.

When I was invited to visit Carom restaurant in Soho, I was a little apprehensive, as it presents itself as a pan Indian restaurant serving modern authentic Indian cooking but I was interested to find out whether it would live up to it.


Coming off a busy Soho street we entered the restaurant to find a cool and relaxed industrial space that has lofty ceilings and a bar that takes centre stage. 
Carom Restaurant
The cocktail list is extensive, so picking was quite the challenge, but the helpful bar staff were on hand to guide us through the menu. 

We opt for a Brazilian Swizzle (£9.50) - Abelha Cachaca with passion fruit, lime, honey, Falernum liqueur and ginger syrup, which arrives at the table theatrically. 
Carom Soho
I am in need of something refreshing having been on a hot and packed tube, I opt for a Carom Mango Lassi (£5), served with yoghurt and fresh mango. 

An authentic Indian restaurant should be able to make a wonderful Lassi and Carom doesn't disappoint.   
carom restaurant
What a stunning looking drink, it tasted as beautiful as it looked. 

We had plans with friends so we knew we only had time to have a few cocktails and snacks from the bar menu. 

The menu has eleven options for food which are all served as small platters. We start with poppadom crackers with a trio of three chutneys (£2.75).
Carom restaurant
We then move onto Chilli Squid, with spice mix and chilli coriander dip (£5.95). Now I should be honest that I am not a huge fan of Squid mainly because I often find it chewy and not very well cooked. 
Carom Restaurant
The Squid was perfectly cooked, it melted in your mouth on eating. I personally would have ramped up the Chilli and added some lime, buts that's my personal taste.  

Next up was chicken Lollipop winglets, yoghurt and Goan dip (£6). The chicken had a wonderful smoky taste and the Goan dip was a good accompaniment. 
Carom restaurant
Last but not least was Potli's vegetable parcels, served with Tamarind chutney (£3.90). The vegetable filling was delicious and the addition of the Tamarind chutney worked well.  But for me there was too much pastry which dominated the plate. They would have been better half the size or served as circular parcels. 
Carom Restaurant
Carom restaurant and bar had a really nice and relaxing atmosphere with lots of work colleagues sharing cocktails after work. Now that we have had a taster for their bar food, it has peaked our interest for their main restaurant and I will definitely be popping back to try out some of their main restaurant dishes. 

100 Wardour Street, 
London, 
W1F 0TN


www.caromsoho.com

Thank you very much to Carom for the wonderful cocktails and bar snacks. Our cocktails and food was complimentary for the purposes of a review, but this is is a true and fair reflection of our experience.  


 photo foodieforce_32.jpg

11 comments:

  1. Oh my, that Brazilian Swizzle looks and sounds incredible! Passion fruit and ginger are two of my favourite flavours :)

    Style Sunrise ☀

    :)
    x

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    1. The Brazilian Swizzle was delicious potent though so you would only a be able to have a few Lucy x

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  2. I love the decor. This looks like a nice restaurant, glad you had a nice time.

    Corinne x
    www.skinnedcartree.com

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    1. It is the perfect place to have cocktails Lucy x

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  3. Ooh yum, looks good! Would be interesting to see how you get on with the main menu, let us know what you think once you've been back :) xxx
    Lucy @ La Lingua

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    1. The restaurant looked like they had a great menu so we will definitely be back Lucy x

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  4. Mhm the food looks so good! When I was younger we used to always eat at Indian restuarants but now we seem to always eat Thai food :) I'll have to check this place out one day :) xx

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    1. Thai food is a favourite too, hopefully this has tempted you to try Indian food again Lucy x

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  5. Cocktails look great! Feel like the orange coloured one is refreshing me just by looking at it!

    Hannah | That Adventurer

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    1. The drinks were good especially the Mango wonderfully refreshing Lucy x

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  6. I have to say, I'm not usually a fan of Indian food but that chicken looks amazing! The cocktails look delicious too :) xx

    Toasty

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