Hankie's Review - ON IN LONDON

We’ve reviewed Hankie’s in Shaftesbury Avenue before so were excited to be invited back to the new restaurant at the Luxury Montcalm Hotel in Marble Arch.

Arriving early, we were seated at our table and my guest and I loved the beautiful decor. The artefacts, glassware and china have been sourced from Indian markets and antique stores by chef and Hankies founder Anirudh Arora. This isn’t just high Class Shabby Chic, it’s upper class.

The menu looks delightful and you may have just as much trouble deciding what to order as we did. Thankfully staff are happy to suggest a variety of options and as the ethos is encourage diners to indulge and share, it was suggested we get a variety of different dishes.

We can definitely recommend the Mantu, a
Spicy chicken and spring onion ravioli with chilli oil and yoghurt plus Lentil salsa. It was an Indian twist on an Italian classic and was suburb. The crispy ‘Gold’ Soft Shelled Crab with Turmeric, amritsari spices, spicy sour mango dip and the Sweet Potato Bomb with Sprouts, spicy chickpeas, jaggery and chilli jam was also incredibly flavoursome.

The signature dish at Hankies is the roomali roti, a thin, wheat-based flatbread which is hand spun until thin enough to see through and then cooked on a burning hot tawa. The roti is then folded into ‘hankies’, which can be used to ccompany – or enclose – all the dishes on the menu. Make sure you order a few of these because they are light, tasty and go great with the curries you will undoubtedly order whilst dining at Hankies.

For our mains, my friend ordered the Lamb Shanks which were slow braised then flash roasted and served with pot gravy and carrot pickle. She loved this and the lamb just melted in her mouth. For myself, I decided to try something a little unusual, the Crab Dumpling which was a crab meat ‘KOFTA’ dumpling in a curry sauce. It was

Our favourite savoury dish of the night was definitely Hankies’ special naan stuffed with vintage cheddar, cumin and shaved truffle. It was phenomenal as the ratio of cheese, cumin and shaved truffle was perfect. No ingredient overpowered the other and I’m sure I heard angels sing during each bite.

Lets not forget the cocktails though, especially the Lychee Rose Petal! It’s a cocktail you’ll regret not ordering. Sweet but refreshing and you’ll find yourself not being able to stop at just one.

Price wise, the menu is great! The most expensive dish on the menu just £13.50 for a bone in Rib Eye Steak. The other dishes range from about £1.75 to £9.00, so so why not visit Hankie’s for traditional Indian Street Food like nowhere else in London.

Address: Hankies Marble Arch,

61 Upper Berkeley Street,

London W1H 7PP

E: [email protected]
T: 0208 958 3222

Written by Tegan LeBon

Photos by Lewis Jackson on behalf of Moment Hunter Digital