The Ivory Tusk, Shepperton
The pleasure of eating out with friends is something we have had to live without for a very long time. All fine to have a take away and someone else cooking your dinner, but a meal out is so much more of an event. The pleasure of being served and being among fellow human beings is something we perhaps took for granted and now feels like a new experience again. Well, our local restaurants are more than happy to welcome us back so we made a date and visited the Ivory Tusk in Shepperton. It was great reacquainting our-selves with the menu.
With a couple of ice cold Kingfisher beers to sip while the starters arrived we enjoyed the chatter of fellow diners around us. The layout of the Ivory Tusk is clever. Zoning and differ-ent levels of the room makes it seem busy. It also made our little group feel intimate within the restaurant. We were not lost in a sea of unoccupied tables. A cleverly planned space.
The starters arrived fresh and hot, with crunchy onion pakora light and crispy and perfectly foiled with the tart tamarind chutney accompanying it.
The salmon tikka showed a strong enough fish to take the spices, but cooked to flaked perfection.
The butterfly jingha prawn, slightly resem-bling a cutlet, we raved about least. Maybe the breadcrumbs were just a little heavy for such a delicate fish.
What was lovely is that the dishes were not huge. They were just right to set us up for the main event.
We had selected a range of main courses. Two from the signature dishes and one from the mains. All three dishes were new to us too.
I had always been keen to try the Cassoulet de Fruits de Mer (see above), a spicy fish stew from Pondicherry, the former French colony in south India. At over £20 though, was it worth it? The answer emphatically is YES. It was sublime. The stew itself is a mix of monkfish, squid, prawns and mussels. It is easy to overcook seafood but all elements were tender and moist. The spicing was ex-ceptional. It might be a little on the spicy side for some palates. Personally I could happily have licked the plate!! Thank goodness then for the light and fluffy naan bread that mopped up that exquisite sauce!
The second signature dish was Anarkali Murgh; whole breast of chicken stuffed with spiced lamb mince and served in a creamy tomato spiced sauce. This was a great hit. The lamb gave the dish an added dimension. The chicken was moist, the lamb much more sub-stantial, but not overpowering and it was nice-ly spiced. The sauce was mild, yet with com-plex flavourings and was not too strong as to overpower the meat flavours.
Finally we had the Gutti Palak Gosht, a dish of sliced lamb, infused with spinach, peppers, tomato and fenugreek. It was a real hearty crowd pleaser.
Chef and manager, Musa Rashid has been in charge here since 1998 and the restaurant has been in the family since 1980. Musa is proud to uphold traditions and standards in cooking as well as being aware of food allergies.
With 20% discount on offer on food, do make a point of going to have your meal in and en-joy both the food and experience.