Rajiv’s Kitchen: It’s destination Soho for a Taste of Nepal

Ava Lawrence reviews Rajiv’s Kitchen, bringing the still-to-be-discovered flavours of Nepal to the heart of London. Here’s proof that you can taste the world in Soho. Let’s take a journey to the Himalayas via the Swiss Alps….

When I was asked by the Editor of My Soho Times if I’d like to do a review of a new residency at The Sun & 13 Cantons, I jumped at the chance. The pub was one of my favourite haunts when I worked in the ad industry in the heady late 1990s. As some may know, the Cantons in the name refers to the ‘states’ of Switzerland as the pub was named after the Swiss watchmakers housed in this corner of Soho in the 1800s.

In keeping with the Alpine theme, a Nepalese restaurant is now in residency called Rajiv’s Kitchen serving Himalayan-based food using herbs and spices authentic to the Asian country. We were greeted by a warm and smiley Nepalese waitress Sabnam, who explained the menu and took our food and drinks order. As we’re on the topic of mountains, I naturally had to order the goat. It comes as a surprisingly delicately fragranced yet hot curry, and is part of a Thaali on the Big Plates section of the menu.

As part of the Small Plates offerings, the pork ribs dish is one of the best things I’ve tasted all year. It has a huge depth of flavour from being marinated in sweet pomegranate molasses and rich earthy spices. The balance was perfect. The meat satisfyingly fell off the bone; it was so tender.

Non-meat eaters are taken care of as well, with around half the menu being vegan, including slow roasted aubergine marinated in hemp seed sauce, with a beautiful pomegranate and garlic yoghurt. The friendly chef and owner Rajiv came out to say hello to customers during our lunch sitting. He explained that when he was growing up, meat was only eaten once a week in Nepal, so everyone is used to cooking and eating vegetable-based meals there.

The vegan chilli momos were a hit with my chilli loving friend, as were the chicken momos I tried with Nepali salsa. I hadn’t tasted salted watermelon before, and as Rajiv explained, this is a common dish in summer in Nepal, eaten with black salt. Here on the menu a block of juicy bright pink watermelon is served with green chutney, whipped tofu and sprinkled with the black salt. An intriguing and refreshing combination and one I want to try to recreate for myself at home. The high altitude Provence rosé I drank with this dish was a sublime pairing.

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If this high standard of cooking is any indication, Rajiv may soon be following former Sun & 13 Cantons chef alumni Asma Khan of Darjeeling Express and Matt Young of Rök Scandinavian restaurants, in that his tenure may be a launch pad for a more permanent restaurant. His supper clubs and previous residencies at various venues in East and South London have been running for the past six years.

Rajiv says there will be special supper club nights timed to celebrate important festivals in Nepal, in order to introduce more people to Nepalese culture. I look forward to discovering more about this fascinating country at the ‘roof of the world’ through dining at Rajiv’s Kitchen.

Rajiv’s Kitchen is in residency until early 2023 at The Sun & 13 Cantons, 21 Great Pulteney St, London W1F 9NG. The kitchen is open Tuesday 5pm-10pm, Wednesday to Saturday 12.30pm-10pm, and Sunday 12.30pm -5pm. Follow @rajivskitchen for menus and updates.

Written by Ava Lawrence | Photos by Kai Lutterodt (cover photo courtesy of Rajiv’s Kitchen)

This article was originally published in the Autumn issue of My Soho Times magazine. CLICK HERE to read it online, or CLICK HERE to buy your print copy!

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