Chakra Restaurant
Living in the south side of London, there aren’t a great deal of restaurants where you can find Halal fine-dining. So when I was invited to check out Chakra located in Kingston, I was very excited to check it out in hope of a new local restaurant that I can be a regular at.
Chakra is still relatively new to Kingston, having opened mid-2018 soon after the opening of their first restaurant in Kensington. (plus their website tells me that they’ve got a ‘delivery-only service in Wimbledon)
A well-decorated new decor, which it is evident a lot of investment has gone into. With trendy high-chairs with a view of the river, also making a great location for outdoor meal during some good weather (… in my dreams!).
Having pretty much starved myself for the whole day, my mum and I tucked into a large variety of items from their menu, from starters to desserts.
Starters
The Samosa Chana Chaat (£6.50) was undoubtedly my favourite starter. Those of you who follow my Instagram or have read my other reviews will know I’m a massive fan of Chaat, so I know when I’m eating a good Chaat, and this one had a perfect mix of savoury and sweet bursts from the Pomegrante. The Fish Amritsari (£8.95) was essentially posh fish finger strips, perfectly cooked and a served with a chutney. The Avocado Ke Gole (£7.95) was a dish I tried it out of curiosity, as the description of ‘a crispy puffed pastry filled with avocado’ really intrigued me – and conclusion: it definitely worked!
Mains
Truthfully speaking we probably over-ordered with our mains, as the starters already had us quite full, but we still managed to do a good job at getting through them! We tried a mixture of items from the Grill as well as curry’s and rice dishes.
From the Grills we tried the Achari Paneer (£8.95) which came in a portion of 4 generous servings. Chewy, just how I like it, even had my mum complimenting it which says it all! The Mirchi Murgh Tikka (£10.95) were good, but nothing extraordinary. And the Lamb Chops (£16.95) tasted amazing, but certainly pricey for a portion of just 3 chops – expected given the fine-dining setting and the location, plus you can expect to pay around the same for most popular Indian restaurants.
From the curry’s we tried the Sadgi Ka Lamb Korma (£13.95) which is another one I was sceptical about as I’ve only ever had Chicken in a Korma, but the Lamb pieces were perfectly cooked to compliment the creamy sauce (but the waiter mentioned that most diners prefer the Chicken Korma). Finally we had the Hyderbadi Chicken Biryani (£12.95) to get some carbs into us, which was served with a mint chutney – the duo made a great dish, definitely to suit a Desi taste.
Desserts
For desserts we had the Fruit Cheesecake (£5.95) which gave a nice sweet finish to the meal, and the Mango Kulfi (£4.95) by Carns Kulfi, which always goes down an absolute treat!
Drinks
I was really impressed that Chakra have a great variety of Mocktails which they’ve clearly put a lot of thought into – whereas a lot of restaurants I’ve visited just say ‘pick anything from the alcoholic menu and we can make it alcohol-free’.
The Mango Lassi (£6) was great but my favourite was the Tropical Road Trip (£6), served with a scoop of ice cream inside – definitely on the heavy side but a great burst of berry flavours.
Conclusion
I really enjoyed all the food, with my favourites (and recommendation) being the Chaat, the Chicken Biryani & the Paneer. The pricing I found relatively high (especially given 3 lamb chops for around £17), but you certainly get your moneys worth in terms of quick service, great good & a fine-dining experience. Plus to be honest you’ll be paying around the same amount at most Indian restaurants offering a similar dining experience.
