Review: Tsaretta Spice
Review: Tsaretta Spice
An incredible array of Indian dishes at this popular Twickenham spot
Twickenham’s Church Street is a fun place to be on a summer evening, and the pedestrianised stretch is filled with a happy crowd of diners and drinkers. At the far end, you’ll find Tsaretta Spice, which has its own terrace, ideal for dinner al fresco.
We rocked up on a Wednesday evening and the restaurant was doing a lively trade, clearly a favoured local spot. The interior is sleek and chic, although a little brightly lit for my liking.
The enthusiastic and helpful staff talked us through the menu. It is made up of Indian tapas dishes as well as more substantial mains. My dining companion is vegetarian so we went for the mixed selection of vegetarian tapas for two for us to share. But I also couldn’t resist ordering the prawns too for me.
You can also mix and match the tapas with the main part of the menu so we decided to have this as our starters and move on to some curries.
There’s a big cocktail list but we stuck with some beers and a decent white (a Waipara Hills Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand available by the glass). It was a school night, after all.
The dishes arrived – and they are not only generous but beautifully presented. We loved the crispy chilli aubergine (so clever), asparagus croquettes (the veg inside not overdone – delish) and spicy bhajis. Our only grumble was that the samosas could have done with a bit of oomph. The tiger prawns were absolutely sensational, plump, huge things with perfectly judged chilli and ginger adding flavours but without overwhelming the prawns.
For mains, we opted for a pumpkin paneer – the cheese was nice and firm with a creamy spicy and sweet sauce of the pumpkin. I loved the Keralan beef curry – dishes from this region are always a favourite for me and this version was spot-on. A beetroot naan worked well alongside, and greedily I also ordered a side of thoran and this came as a mound of fresh lightly cooked green beans along with the requisite spices and garlic, chilli and mustard seeds.
We were too full for desserts and even one of the after-dinner cocktails.
This is a great restaurant that deserves to do well. And if you’re over in France, there’s one in Méribel and one in Les Allues, too.
