Brilliant Gastro by Dipna Anand

This is the successor to the Brilliant, and set up by Dipna Anand, the daughter of the original Brilliant founder, Gulu Anand. The restaurant is set in a new housing development in Southall not far from the station, set back from the road. The feel is quite casual, the dining room seating 90 with an additional forty seats on the terrace in good weather. The kitchen is huge, all electric and having a warren of separate rooms for the dry store, vegetables, and more. The head chef was Sunil Kumar, who worked at The Brilliant for fifteen years. The menu was quite modern and much shorter than that at the original Brilliant. A few classic dishes like the jeera chicken are retained, but there are newer ideas like chicken tikka arancini and a deconstructed cheesecake for dessert.

There was a short wine list of 14 labels, with no vintages shown. The list ranged from £21 to £130, with a median price of £30 and a multiple of price to retail of 2.4, which is very kind in this day and age. Offerings included Louis Eschehenaue Sauvignon Blanc at £25 for a bottle that you can find for £8.40 in the high street, and Laurent Perrier Brut NV at £82 for a bottle whose market value is £56. A selection of beers included Asahi and London Pride.

Chicken tikka arancini worked better than I anticipated. The four little rice balls were crisp and golden on the outside, and the filling of chicken tikka and rice had a touch of spice. There was a dip and a micro-salad to go with the arancini (14/20). Tandoori lamb chops had four chops that had been marinated and grilled. They were cooked well, pink in the centre, and had absorbed their spicy marinade nicely (14/20). 

For my main course, butter chicken was very good. Some butter chickens can be absurdly rich, but this one was buttery but not absurdly so. The chicken pieces were tender and the sauce was rich and gently spiced (14/20). A garlic naan, cooked in the electric tandoor, was genuinely good, supple and soft in texture (14/20). A vegetarian thali was a complete meal in itself, from mini popadoms through to fluffy bhatura bread. This had a good paneer makhani, a rich dal makhani, a spinach dish and pilau rice. The various elements were all carefully made (14/20).

For dessert, gajar halwa was excellent, served in a little domed bowl and having plenty of sweet carrot flavour, without being too buttery (14/20). I was less taken by mandarin cheesecake, which was deconstructed, and needed more mandarins relative to the cheesecake filling (12/20).

Several waiters from the old Brilliant were in evidence tonight, and service was very good. The bill came to £68 each with beer and a cocktail to drink. The restaurant was busy on this weekday night, and even a month after opening it seems to be thriving in its new location. It is good to see the Brilliant name being retained, a Southall institution for fifty year that has now changed into a new format.