Originality, Confidence and Cooking Worth Recognising
By Dev Biswal
Manthan makes a strong impression before the food arrives. Small and cosy, the restaurant was busy
during our lunchtime visit, attracting both local diners and Indian tourists. In an area offering considerable competition for lunch trade, a well-filled dining room is an encouraging sign. Here, that popularity felt deserved.
We began with our server’s recommendation: the Halahala cocktail. Stunning and original, it provided a memorable opening and set expectations for a kitchen and bar willing to express their own identity.
The starters delivered on that promise. Jackfruit dosa tacos and the mutton roll both stood out for flavour and presentation. These were dishes with character—visually appealing, but with the substance to ensure that their appearance was only part of the pleasure.
From the grills, we chose lamb chops and duck seekh kebab with bone marrow and makhani sauce. The lamb chops were very well cooked, demonstrating the kitchen’s confidence with grilled meat.
The bone marrow sauce was a particularly inspired accompaniment. It is the kind of idea that makes immediate culinary sense: generous, expressive and capable of bringing another dimension to the grill.
The duck seekh kebab was the one dish that did not quite match the standard around it. Duck is an appealing proposition for a seekh kebab, but the result offered less flavour and complexity than its description suggested. Against such distinctive starters and accomplished lamb chops, it felt comparatively subdued.
I would be interested to know how popular it is with regular diners. A dish’s appeal on paper does not always translate into the same impact on the palate, and this was the one occasion when the concept seemed stronger than the execution.
Alongside the grills, we tried kaali dal and masala paratha. The choice of bread also prompted a broader appreciation of Manthan’s approach. There is confidence in serving what belongs to the restaurant’s own culinary vision, rather than adding naan simply because diners encounter it everywhere else.
That independence matters. A restaurant develops a recognisable identity through the decisions it makes across the menu, including what it chooses to leave out. At Manthan, the originality felt rooted in the cooking, rather than imposed for novelty.
What stayed with me was the sense of a restaurant comfortable following its own direction. The cocktail, the starters and the thoughtful pairing of grilled meat with bone marrow sauce all offered reasons to return. The duck seekh kebab invited a little more development, but it was an exception within a highly accomplished lunch.
Manthan deserves greater recognition and more accolades than it currently receives. Its strongest dishes have the flavour, character and confidence to distinguish it in a fiercely competitive part of London.
The busy dining room suggests that diners are already taking notice. On the evidence of this lunch, the wider industry should be paying closer attention too.
Manthan
49 Maddox Street,
London W1S 2PQ
