FOOD&DRINK

Tony Benjamin discovers cocktails, an upmarket menu and coconut chutney with a serious zing at this new arrival in Bristol city centre

Given the range of Indian cooking cultures from the Himalayas down to Sri Lanka, it was always regrettable that the British seemed content with such a restricted choice of ‘curries’. Happily, however, Indian restaurants have been moving beyond the madras/vindaloo/korma triangle, with dishes from Kerala, Goa and other delicious corners of the sub-continent. Contemporary upmarket menus have abandoned the back-lane takeaway ‘telephone directory’ for something resembling an equivalent Italian restaurant – a selection of dishes reflecting a wide range of tastes and flavours. Good news for the taste-buds, certainly, if harder on the brain cells when it comes to choosing.

4500 Miles from Delhi is newly arrived in Bristol as the third in a chain started in Leamington Spa before expanding to Oxford. The former La Tasca city-centre site has been transformed into something combining classical ‘colonial’ touches with smart modernism, the space nicely broken up so that you’re hardly aware of the scale of what is, actually, a 200-cover business. Linen napkins are tied with red ribbons, cutlery is stylish and furniture unshowily smart and comfortable, and from the greeting at the door onwards, the service is unfailingly attentive and efficient.

Our window table has a view of the centre criss-crossed by fancy-dressed people on a sponsored pub crawl, with padded gangs of Sumo wrestlers bumping softly into cross-dressed Irish dancers. The distraction pales once eating begins, however, with the first poppadom-enhancing chutneys getting instant approval for freshness and individuality of flavour. The Lovely She is impressed to find a cocktail selection – unusual in an Indian restaurant – so sips on a blackberry-rich Midnight Monkey. I opt for a bottle of Cobra while we pick an eclectic pan-Indian selection of dishes.

The menu at 4500 Miles is a nicely balanced mix of the familiar – chicken tikka masala, natch – with more interesting discoveries including a generous vegetarian choice available as main or side dishes. For starters we share pakora and a vegetable dosa, the latter a perfectly bronzed triangle of crisp-fried pancake with spicy potato filling. While lacking the usual ‘sambol’ gravy accompaniment, it comes with a satisfying pot of coconut chutney that has real zing. The pakoras are deep-fried balls of mixed veg, strong on cumin - a pleasing contrast with their rich accompanying sauces. It’s a filling start, so when the main courses arrive, the tableful of steaming brass dishes suddenly seems ambitious to She. Greedily sniffing the splendid aromas, I, however, am quietly confident.

The first mouthful makes it clear that we’re in for rich eating. Goan fish curry is deep red with tomato and tamarind and leaves a pleasant coconut aftertaste, and the Hyderabadi lamb has gingery depth and chilli warmth, while the orange tarka dhal is a lighter and refreshing balancing flavour. We’re unsure about the bagaray baingan, another Hyderabadi dish made from aubergines. Full of flavours, with coconut and peanut coming through strongly, the pieces of smoked aubergine are tiny and their taste is overwhelmed by the sauce.

It doesn’t stop me hovering up the last traces with shreds of naan bread, however, and I sit back from the well-cleared table quite satisfied - though not so satisfied that I can resist a portion of rosewater-scented malai kulfi, nicely laid out in wedges, while The Lovely She manages a sweet rasmalai with approval. With a glass of wine and another large Cobra for me, the meal comes to £85, a reasonable price for such richly flavoured, quality eating in commodious surroundings – and with plenty left to explore on the menu, a further visit could well be on the cards. We leave, slightly over-full, to find a Chinese dragon dance encountering a posse of heavy metal rockers on the pavement outside. Ah, Bristol!

CONTACT

4500 MILES FROM DELHI 8-10 COLSTON AVE, BRISTOL. FFI: 0117 929 2224, http://www.4500miles.co.uk/

VERDICT 8/10 Rich and original flavours of India that should make a mark on the Bristol scene

Copyright Tony Benjamin 2011