Longstanding food and hospitality journalist turned Consultant in the same field Humayun Hussain will be opening an intimate, fine dining Indian restaurant on behalf of first-time restaurateurs, husband and wife Harish and Shobha Panchal in August this year.
The modern, elegantly designed, neighbourhood-style restaurant – surely Harrow’s most upmarket Indian – is appropriately named Shobha’s Rasoi (Rasoi denotes “kitchen” in the Hindi language), and will be located on the high street in north-west London’s, suburban enclave of Harrow & Wealdstone.
Emphasising well-made and refined pan-Indian dishes, the restaurant will be just that little bit different from all its Indian counterparts in Harrow in that aside from meat dishes, its A la Carte menu will also have more than a hint of good vegetarian items as well as a strong East African influence, particularly from Tanzania and Kenya.
With a highly experienced Head Chef at the helm, Harish and Shobha, who originally hail from Tanzania, will themselves be at the restaurant, the former front of house and the latter bringing her love of cooking to the fore from the kitchen with home-style recipes in her own monthly changing specials menu.
Diners may enjoy a host of familiar and unfamiliar dishes – all flavoursome and where possible, with a nod to being health conscious. From home-made Chicken Samosas to Vegetable Pakoras and from Surti Jhinga (prawns) to Aubergine Palita, starters are bound to be a hit! Mains may feature anything from Jeera Chicken (chicken with cumin) to Kuku Karanga (on the bone spiced chicken with ground nuts) and Boozi Bafu (on the bone spring lamb chops) whilst sides may include Karela (bitter gourd) and Bhindi Suka Shaak (okra).
The sweet toothed may enjoy various Halwa (dense, sweet confection) and more desserts whilst the drinks list will include various juices, cocktails, beers and fine wines.
Plans are also afoot to offer Weekend Breakfast: Indian, English and Continental style.
“We could not have hoped for better support and the thought Humayun has put into the whole project,” said Harish Panchal. “My wife Shobha and I are novice restaurateurs albeit very passionate about food. We wanted to start up a restaurant and when Humayun came on board our dream started to become a reality. He’s been focussed on all aspects and not afraid to speak his mind and guide us on the right path, even bringing in his own designer along with one of the top Indian chefs in the UK to oversee the kitchen plan. Right from day one Humayun was very much in sync with Shobha and me in terms of the kind of menu we wanted and really built it all up giving the restaurant a real sense of depth and context. We are all so looking forward to the opening this summer.”