It will probably sound something of an outrage to Birmingham food lovers that neither lee or I have ever been to Lasan. I’ve followed him faithfully since rising to fame on The F Word, through the ups and downs of Great British Menu, oohing and ahhing over the delicious looking food, have been to eat at all his other ventures, and even very briefly met him at a blogger event a year or so back! So how we have never been to Lasan I have no idea. We have tried to get a weekend table a few times, but have always left it a little too late and they’ve already been fully booked (never ones to be organised Lee and I!)
Anyway, the other week, we put this right. On a whim on a weeknight we booked a table and turned up full of anticipation.
I liked the decor of the restaurant, and we were seated on the mezzanine level which was lovely. Service throughout was very friendly, a tad slow in parts (ordering and getting the bill) but the food service was very timely.
We we treated to an amuse bouche to start – a little pastry shell with chickpeas and tamarind. This was delicious, had a real kick to it and was hopefully a sign of brilliant things to come. Some poppodoms and chutneys were also provided free of charge, a nice touch.
I started with the Burrah Kebab – hung beef marinated in papaya and cumin and cooked in the tandoor with a kachumber salad it was unbelievably tender and the spicing just spot on. Lee had the Onion & Palak Pakora. Again this was delicious – so light and the subtle spices balanced amazingly. So far, so good. Well better than good!
Our mains followed on the faultless theme and I can really see why they call Aktar the Spice King and his team are fully doing his creations justice. Lee’s Lamb Labadar came with cutlet, 10 hour confit shoulder, awadhi style pate of breast, tempered lentils and a smoked, spiced braising jus. I tried a mouthful and it was pure heaven – the jus was something completely out of this world. My Thengapal Duck with spiced pumpkin and a Keralan style caramelised onion and pepper sauce didn’t buck the trend. Every mouthful was a little taste burst and all the flavours were harmonious. Needless to say we both soaked up every last bit of the sauce with our side order of Pilau rice with petit pois.
We even decided to share a desert, which, unless we are having a tasting menu when desert is a given, usually means the food has been so good we have had to have more, as we are not the biggest desert people!
We shared an Apple and salted caramel macaroon with strawberry ice-cream. It was a lovely finish to the meal. My only comment on this was the couple of large mint leaves stuck on top. Not needed and we all know what Lee thinks of inedible garnishes!
Our first visit to Lasan was a roaring success and I doubt we will leave it long before we visit again!!
Disclosure: We paid for our own meal, and all opinions expressed are honest and our own