Babur in Forest Hill offers exquisite Indian cuisine with modern twists. Chef Jiwan Lal’s 18-year tenure has earned numerous accolades, making it a top dining destination in London.
Restaurant critic George Shaw delves into London’s culinary underbelly to unearth some of the finest Indian cuisine to be found in the metropolis.
Tucked away in an almost anonymous suburb of south east London, sits one of the finest Indian restaurants you will find anywhere in the capital. Babur is a worthy match for any of the esteemed West End upmarket Indian venues, with their stratospheric prices.
Babur is dedicated to the Persian founder of the Mughal Empire, a descendent of Genghis Khan. The restaurant itself is a relaxing combination of dark wood, exposed brickwork, tiles and exotic Indian artworks.
Executive Chef Jiwan Lal, who curates an exceptional menu of authentic regional dishes, with modern fine dining twists. Oberoi-trained Jiwan has been at Babur for a mere 18 years of its 39 year residency in Forest Hill – only 10 minutes from London Bridge by overland train. Look out for the Bengal tiger on the roof.
The cooking style employs a delicate touch of spice, which allows the diner to appreciate the full natural flavours of high quality fresh produce.
Chef Lal’s talents have amassed an impressive array of accolades, such as the Asian Curry Awards – Fine Dining Restaurant, Asian Restaurant Awards – Fine Dining, London Suburbs and Asian & Oriental Chef of the Year, plus leading guide entries including Michelin, AA, Good Food, Harden’s and Square Meal.
At mixologist Rupam’s recommendation, I tried one of the ‘warm weather’ cocktails, a heady ‘Currytini’ of Bombay Sapphire Gin, dry vermouth and cordial, flavoured with a fresh curry leaf and green chilli (£10.50), while TGS had a bottle of the “rich bodied” craft lager from local Brockley micro brewery (£4.95).
To explore the depth of the kitchen skills, my lunch guest, tourist guide Simon (a pescatarian) and I opted for the two 5-course tasting menus (£54.95, £50.95 vegetarian, plus £31 with optional paired wines). There are also slightly cheaper 4-course options.First up was a defty spiced Swordfish tikka with onion and radish pickle plus a plumb fresh Kasundi king prawn with green papaya murabba. For non-flesh eaters there is a Crispy tapioca coated beetroot cutlet offering.My second was the deliciously moist Tulsi malai chicken tikka served with cottage cheese, organic green peas and kadai spices, which allowed the bird to shine through. The veggie option was a “delightful” Saufiyani paneer tikka, “ginger and almond undertones”, mango chutney with masala puff rice.
The third course was tender and gamey Goat shoulder tikka with green tomato and aubergine mash served with a garlicky spinach, sweet corn, mushroom and chana dal. TGS very much enjoyed his Garlicky spinach, cauliflower and potato with a “rich, creamy” dal makhni and “bready” plain nan.Next up was melt-in-the-mouth Slow cooked mutton served in a clay pot, steamed rice with Chicken Chettinad and a rice pancake. This was counterposed by the “playfully light” Soya keema broad beans dosa, accompanied with contrasting “zesty” spiced tomato and “heavenly” coconut chutney.
Finally, the rich Black cardamom fig kheer was served with a tangy Raspberry sorbet and, nutty was the perfect finale to a truly exquisite feast.
To celebrate its 39th birthday, Babur will be serving a special ‘Flavours of Maharashtra’ (India’s second most populous state) ‘culinary journey’ of regional dishes from 17th July to 15th September.
