When it comes to finding something good to eat at an airport it can be a dispiriting experience, with much of the food to be had resembling something you would expect to find at a motorway service station circa 1975, writes Colette Doyle. But if you take a slight detour from Heathrow Terminal 5, then you’ll come across a dining destination that ferociously challenges such preconceptions.
Award-winning chef Cyrus Todiwala has branched out from his Café Spice Namaste restaurant at London’s Tower Hill to open a new establishment at the Hilton hotel, just by Heathrow Terminal 5 . Mr Todiwala’s Kitchen is welcoming from the outset, as our discreet yet highly knowledgeable waiter patiently fields our questions about the extensive menu.
We start with an amuse-bouche of spicy, warming tomato and coriander soup and follow up by sharing a vegetarian starter platter, featuring five delicacies, including a flavoursome paneer tikka and samosa made with beetroot and coconut – an unusual combination that works surprisingly well. We supplement the starter platter with a Masala Dosa – an amazingly delicious pancake filled with fluffy potato bhajee and served with its traditional accompaniment of saambaar, a spiced vegetable and lentil soup that makes the dosa deliciously moist.
The kitchen proves to be as flexible as it is accomplished when I decide to go slightly off menu by asking for the Goan king prawn curry to be toned down from a two-chilli rating to just one (I love spicy food but sadly, after an operation a few years back, my digestive system does not) and served with basmati rice rather than the menu-recommended red kernel variety.
My dining companion opts for one of the specialities of the house, the Dhaansaak, described confidently as “every Parsee’s favourite dish”, Parsee being the community in India from which chef Todiwala hails. It looks like my date for the night is well on his way to becoming an honorary Parsee himself, as he devours with glee the glistening dish of lamb and vegetables pureed with lentils, garlic, ginger and other spices.
The generous portions on offer mean that I’m almost too full to order dessert, but I decide I should uphold the best journalistic traditions and force myself to try the zafrani crème brûlée. I’m very glad I did, as the silky smoothness of the creamy concoction is livened up with the exotic addition of saffron, ginger and cardamom.
My companion admits defeat on the food front, but opts to try one of the house cocktails: the intriguingly named Bombay Sherbet, made with Flor de Cana rum and Amaretto Di Saronno shaken with raspberry syrup, lime and cranberry juice. The sip he lets me have is so good – sweet as the name would indicate, yet also delightfully refreshing – I order one for myself.
It’s only three degrees outside, but the bleached wooden floorboards and cane furniture, along with a virtually life-size decorative carved elephant and, above all, the authentic nature of the cooking on offer here mean that Mr Todiwala’s Kitchen feels like a far-flung corner of Slough that will be forever India.
Hilton Heathrow Terminal 5, Poyle Road, Colnbrook, SL3 0FF
mrtodiwalaskitchen.com/; 01753 766482
