If you’re looking for a trusty new takeaway to give your tastebuds a tickle, then this isn’t the Indian for you. But if you’re looking for immaculately plated, mild and overpriced Indian food, then Ritu is probably your man.
‘Ritu’ means ‘seasons’, and the whole menu is conceptualised around the seasons of traditional Indian food. The restaurant itself is large and pleasant enough to suit a family celebration: Granny’s seventieth, your sister’s graduation dinner, that sort of thing. There’s a slick terrace outside the front that’s decorated as I’d imagine the restaurants in Ocean Club Marbella to look, while the inside is shiny and mirrored, with plenty of those plush teal chairs that seem to be everywhere at the moment.
After ordering, I nibbled on mini poppadoms and garlicky mayo, sipping a Whisky Sour cocktail served in a novelty teapot-shaped glass. The starters were brought out promptly: first, a plate of skin-on gunpowder prawns with moreish masala caesar sauce. They were gloriously meaty but completely lacking in heat – and £19 for a starter of two prawns? Seems steep, even for St John’s Wood. The other starter, a plate of crispy chickpeas and potatoes displayed in an arty cave of crackling lotus-stem slices, was a bomb of red onion and coriander: fresh, pretty to look at, but rather dull and dry after the first few mouthfuls.
By the time mains came around, my belly was suspiciously full thanks to the generously large portion sizes. The paneer laziz pasanda, a rich sauce with great big slabs of battered paneer, was bland, creamy and stiflingly heavy. It was also a way off the menu’s description: there were no potatoes or cashews in sight. Luckily, the jackfruit dish saved the show, with a spiced tomato masala sauce and soft melt-in-your-mouth fruit mopped up with some über-garlicky naan. Surprisingly, the jackfruit was the best plate of the lot: probably because they actually dared to add some spice to it. It felt like the food at Ritu has been toned down to please spice-haters, sacrificing big flavour and exciting clashes for dense, underwhelming alternatives.
The vibe The type of place you’d go with extended family to exchange small talk for another year.
The food Artistically presented Indian food with a decent vegan offering.
The drink Expansive selection of whisky and spirits, standard wine list and gimmicky cocktails.
Time Out tip Portions are large, so order a bunch of dishes and share.