Quince

Quilon has operated since 1999, within the St James Court hotel, run by the large Indian Taj Hotel Group. The restaurant itself has its own entrance on Buckingham Gate. The executive chef is Sriram Aylur, who has worked with the Taj group since 1989. He was initially at the excellent Karavalli in the Gateway hotel in Bangalore in 1990. After that he moved to London to open Quilon in 1999. The menu was a la carte, though there was a tasting menu at £125. 

The wine list had 224 labels and ranged in price from £51 to £1,234, with a median price of £123 and an average markup to retail price of 3.9 times, which is very high, even by the elevated standards of St James. The list was structured by style rather than geography, and this has led to some duplication. For example, Taurasi, Vesevo is listed in the “volcanic” section, but also the “firm, classically structured” section, and there are a number of similar duplications. The list was 49% French, but there were bottles from as far afield as Peru and India, and even three selections from England. There were 21 bottles under £75, and 81 under £100. Sample references were Intipalka Sauvignon Blanc 2024 at £51 for a bottle that you can find in the high street for £13, Brindisi Riserva 1952 Santina Sampietrana 2021 at £67 compared to its retail price of £17, and Princess Fiano Fox Gordon2016 at £98 for a wine that will set you back £18.83 in the high street. For those with the means there was Puligny Montrachet Domaine Leflaive 2019 at £401 compared to its retail price of £264, and Domaine Matrot Les Chalumeaux 2021 at an absurd £765 for a wine whose current market value is £136.

To begin with, mini popadoms came with three pickles and two chutneys. There was tamarind and ginger pickle, garlic and chilli pickle and lemon chilli pickle. The chutneys were coconut chutney and tomato chutney, which gave plenty of options to accompany the crisp popadoms.  A starter of crab cake (£19) had claw meat, crusted vermicelli and curry leaves. The combination of crisp vermicelli and crab gave a good textural balance, while the curry leaves added their distinct aroma. This was a delicate and very enjoyable dish (15/20).

A starter of green peppercorn prawn (£16) was flavoured with curry leaves and marinated ginger and wrapped in a banana leaf for serving. The prawn was served in its shell and the large prawn was tender, having nicely taken on the flavour of the curry leaves and spices (15/20).Prawn masala (£41) was probably the dish of the night, the prawn tails cooked with onion, tomato, coconut milk and curry leaves. The prawns were carefully cooked and had good flavour, while the sauce was nicely balanced, the coconut and aromatic curry leaves complementing the prawns well (15/20).

Quail “ambotik” (£32) was a dry dish of crisp quail breasts tossed with Goan chilli, kokum rind (a souring agent that serves a similar role to tamarind) and spices. The quail was nicely cooked, and the slight sourness of the kokum and bite of chilli nicely balanced the richness of the meat (14/20). Channa masala (£19) had chickpeas that retained their texture well, all in a tomato and onion-based sauce enlivened by spices (14/20). Both Malabar paratha (£7) and egg paratha (£9) were very good, avoiding any hint of greasiness and having excellent texture (15/20).

For dessert, pistachio sorbet( £10) had good texture, though perhaps it could have deeper pistachio flavour (14/20). Baked yoghurt (£15) came in three flavours: mango, guava and palm jaggery. These each tasted of what they were supposed to and had good texture; an interesting and unusual dessert (14/20). Coffee was from Drury Tea and Coffee. Service was very good. The bill came to £92 per person, with beer and a cocktail to drink. Quilon offers a good all-round experience of high quality south Indian food in a comfortable setting.

Further reviews: 02nd Mar 2013