Having been used as a weekend location by the highly successful likes of Laksa Kitchen and Singapore curry puff legends Old Chang Kee, Kentish Town Road’s longstanding Tolli Café is permanently making way for another of its pop-up kitchen guests: Brindian.
From today (Fri 12th Jan), at weekends to begin with and then daily, they will be serving grab ‘n’ go tasty snacks and lunches by day, and operating as a casual restaurant and bar by night.
The food? A fusion of Brit classics with an Indian twist, so look out for their Scotch egg bhagi with a chilli pickle, a Lancashire hot pot samosa, a king prawn and cockle curry and the vegan 3C burger, (the ‘c’s being chickpea, carrot, coriander, cucumber, cumin & chilli).
Brindian has been around on the streetfood scene since 2013, when it got off to a flyer by winning Vogue’s ‘best festival food’ award. If all goes well, this could be their first permanent location, and their aim is to roll out a Carluccio’s-style series of Indian fusion delis-cum-restaurants all over the place.
Kentish Town remains fertile ground for foodie startups, and Brindian are following up on a successful pop-up weekend at Tolli late last year.
The brand is co-owned by chef and eating coach Paul McIntyre and partner Neil Sen, who tells us a bit more about what to expect.
“We will be preparing fresh dosas, which are a traditional South Indian version of a crepe or pancake, but much larger and more tasty, alongside the menu favourites from our pop-ups. On Sundays we will also have a traditional roast, and look out for a Burns Night special in a couple of weeks too.”
Alongside the fusion dishes, which Paul and Neil proudly label as ‘quirky’, they plan to offer some equally curious-sounding drinks, too.
“Food can be washed down with a selection of Indian or English beers and wines or our exotic ciders like Mango Fandango and Pomegranate Panache,” he reveals. “If you prefer something non-alcoholic, we have fresh yoghurt lassis.”
With Kentish Town Road undergoing many upheavals at the moment, from the shock sale of The Oxford to the closure of the Post Office, Brindian sounds like it could make an exciting addition if it goes full-time in a perfect location opposite the tube. Daily dosas might be about to become a thing.
