No curries on the menu – but there's pork – at new gourmet Indian restaurant

23rd July 2010, 11:38am

Dev Biswal is on a mission to “transform the Indian dining scene” with the opening of The Ambrette restaurant in Margate, which is situated on the site of the Michelin-listed Indian Princess in Margate, where he worked as executive chef.

Named after the Indian flower that's known for its aphrodisiac and culinary properties, The Ambrette promises gourmet Indian dining in a refurbished and rebranded restaurant that's been designed to "distance itself" from the traditional high street curry houses.

And the menu has an added twist –no curries are featured on the menu but pork does – something Biswal says is "something almost unknown in the UK's 10,000 predominantly Bangladeshi-owned south Asian establishments".

In a menu described as "short and eclectic", dishes change daily and options include the signature dish fillet of freshwater nile perch, pan-friend with peppers, coriander, fenugreek and carom seeds, along with locally-sourced game and seafood.

Dishes are inspired by the "vast sea change in the fine dining in his native Mumbai" where he returns regularly for the latest culinary experiences and to source new ingredients. Included in his findings are "Beetle Cases" - highly aromatic plant leaves that are thought to have medicinal properties which lose their flavour quickly.

Biswal has extracted the essence of these leaves to create his own "uniquely pungent" ice cream dish, and has employed a local artisan to create perfectly halved goose egg shells in which he services his rose flavoured crème brûlée.

In a bid to showcase how wine can be matched with Indian cuisine, The Ambrette will host a gourmet Indian dining evening with tickets priced at £40 each, which will feature a five-course tasting menu with matching wines from Hix & Buck on Saturday 8th August. A further opening in Tunbridge Wells is to be announced shortly.

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