Please note, Kavanna is now closed. Time Out Food & Drink Editors.
Kavanna concentrates the mind on what’s important in an Indian meal. Chandeliers and damask tablecloths, in typical Indian-restaurant style, set the mood. The long menu of curry-house starters, curries, birianis, baltis and tandoori delicacies is wide ranging in terms of heat quotient and ingredients. We started with non-dairy lamb tikka and tandoori chicken: small but succulent portions, not dyed red but golden and grilled. The onion bhaji tasted as it should, but not being spherical seemed to affect its texture. Sag bhaji was a fresh dry spinach curry perfectly cooked. Chicken badam pasanda matched its description, mild and creamy: not for the spicy palate, and you wouldn’t know that soy yoghurt was used instead of the real thing. The lamb bhuna (also offered as a chicken dish) came in a rich sauce. The biggest letdown was the basmati rice; perhaps it hadn’t been cooked freshly for us. Yet this didn’t detract significantly from our meal, as the coconut, almond peshwari nan served as a delicious counterpoint to the meat. If ultra-kosher Indian is what you’re after, Kavanna is a good choice.