IN BRIEF:
You’d be hard-pressed to find a better curry house outside of central London.
Food: 10/ 10
Service: 8/ 10
Atmosphere: 7/ 10
Overall: 9/ 10
IN DETAIL:
Ask anyone who knows anything about the best curry houses in London and they will invariably come up with variations of the same five restaurants.
Dishoom, Brigadiers, Gymkhana, Benares and Jamavar will all be on there, while Lahore Kebab House will be cited by curry fiends willing to forego swanky restaurant aesthetics to get their fill from the subcontinent.
One restaurant that might not immediately spring to mind is Babur of Forest Hill, but if a recent visit to the quiet suburbs of south London is anything to go by, you ignore it at your own peril.
Perhaps better suited to the up-market streets of Mayfair or the hustle and bustle of Covent Garden, Babur’s humble location is, admittedly, quite surprising for a restaurant of its calibre.
Sat halfway along Brockley Rise Babur is easily accessible from Honor Oak Park or Forest Hill (allow for a 20-minute stroll) for those arriving by public transport, which we would recommend, because not only is The Chandos a decent place to grab a pre-meal pint but the cocktail list at Babur is superb.
A Mumbai Negroni mixed with homemade Indian spiced sweet vermouth and pink clove bitters will deliver a warm red hue to your cheeks, while a ‘Buffalo Smoke’ cocktail that consists of bourbon and cinnamon bitters is equally intriguing.
Those refraining from a drink will be well-catered for on the mocktail list, all of which offer similarly inviting Indian twists on non-alcoholic signatures.
The food menu at Babur abides by a simple rule; expect the unexpected.
If plain onion bhajis and meat samosas are your thing, this might not be the place for you. But if you are happy to stretch the limited boundaries of the traditional Anglo-Indian curry house, you will be in for a treat.
Tempered blue crab, Dungar quail breast and Goat shoulder tikka are among the dishes advertised for starters, as well as clove-smoked lamb chops, which are simply to die for.
The best end baby chops are served with a roasted garlic yoghurt which cuts through the smoke to deliver a balanced palate of extraordinary flavours.
Goat shoulder, meanwhile, is surprisingly tender sat atop a mound of black cardamom, green tomato and aubergine mash.
The main course brings more of the same surprising dishes, as well as one or two ‘safe’ inclusions for those spooked by the inventiveness of the starter menu.
If you’ve been left rattled by swordfish and quail, a nice Tikka butter masala should calm your nerves or, failing that, a Lucknowi chicken biryani.
But if you felt exhilarated by Babur’s non-conformist approach, I would steer you towards the Rajasthani Khargosh which comprises of rabbit in a kadhi sauce with generous helpings of rice and bread to soak everything up.
Venison hunter curry and a slow-cooked mutton dish are also notable dishes with much promise.
Babur deserves a firm tip of the cap for what it is looking to achieve in this small corner of south London.
It might not boast the convenience of the other candidates for ‘London’s top curry house’, but if you want to try something a little different in a restaurant that has truly mastered its craft, a short train ride will be well worth the effort.
ADDRESS:
119 Brockley Rise, London, SE23 1JP
OPENING TIMES:
Tuesday 12–11 pm
Wednesday 12–11 pm
Thursday 12–11 pm
Friday 12–11 pm
Saturday 12–11 pm
Sunday 12–10:30 pm
Monday 12–11 pm
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