After three visits between 06-2016 to 04-2017 at the Soho branch, I found an opportunity to take advantage of the bookings allowed at the newer St. Christopher's Place branch. It's a much much larger form than the tiny Soho original and much of the seating for 4 is shared whereas larger groups all seem to have curtained private rooms.
Given there were 4 of us, it allowed a wide sampling of this menu which does differ slightly from the Soho one. I still remain disappointed that the duck heart chukka isn't available any longer, but maybe next time I'll try to order it in advance. Failing that, I think I've found a replacement...
The start proceedings this evening, a Toddy Tapper part 2 £10 was ordered and it had a smooth smokey mezcal and tequila with sweetness from pineapple bark, lime, coconut blossom pickle and acharu. I'm not sure how all the elements contribute exactly but it ended up being similar to mezcal and pineapple juice but not too sweet and very nice.
- Chicken Wing Chukka £8.25 (for 4 pieces, instead of £6.5 for 3) - chicken wings in a rich thick tasty coating. It doesn't have the textural element of the duck heart but it's still good;
- Jaffna Beef Rib Fry £9 - this remarkable dish outshone the chukka in terms of strength of spice and flavour. The tender morsels of rib and the dry chilli surface were incredibly good. Reminiscent of Needoo's dry meat curry;
- String Hopper Seafood Kothu £12.5 - a mildly flavoured dish of cabbage with seafood topped with a soft shell crab. Very pretty and a reasonable size but I didn't think the flavour was very memorable;
- Aubergine, Bean & Okra Kari £7 - a tiny dish of curry with overall mild flavour. The aubergine had been cooked to the point that it was soft and stringy clinging to life attaching barely to the skin. Forgettable overall;
- Crab Kari £15 - a crab with very pliable shell that could easily to crushed and torn with the teeth. The meat was soft and juicy particularly from the body and the curry sauce had a heap of curry powder/leaves that formed the overall taste. The liquid was excessive and mopped up with the hoppers;
- Egg Hopper £4.5 - spongy inside, crisp surface, although I remember it being more sour previously;
- Masoor Dhal Ghee Buriani, Pineapple Acharu, Yoghurt £13 - I wanted the fish buriani but was trumped and ended up with dhal ghee instead. The rice was clean, not oily and mildly spiced. The raita and acharu added some tang and sweet notes.
It's still an excellent meal and one of the finest curries in the city. I'll definitely be back for the chukka, beef rib fry, and to try the Jaffna lamb chops (if it is anywhere as good as the Jaffna beef rib), black pork ribs and fish buriani. That's a lot to get through.