Your New West End Treat – Oorja – I don’t know about you, but it’s often difficult to decide where to eat when you’re up in the West End. There’s a plethora of choices, but I can make it easy for you: head to Oorja for an Indian meal that you’ll love. We checked it out the other evening, after a matinee performance of the wonderful musical ‘Operation Mincemeat’ (which I thoroughly recommend) and were very impressed.
Oorja is situated on Shaftesbury Avenue, (very near the junction with Charing Cross Road) and takes guests on a ‘food journey through India with vibrant and delicious dishes available all day. Oorja (meaning energy in Hindi) offers casual comfort food with a focus on small plates inspired by Northern Indian recipes that have been handed down by generations.’ Oorja is the second restaurant from Starwins Group, founded by Gobind Chona. His other restaurant is Gura Gura, serving pan Asian food.
We started with drinks – mine was a Negroni and my husband just opted for sparkling mineral water. It’s worth noting, though, that the drinks menu has loads of options for non-drinkers. We were told that the table lights can be tapped to make them bright white (as opposed to the more mellow setting) to indicate that we would like service. Another fab idea is that each place setting has a fabric bib for diners to wear to protect their clothing – was this going to get messy we wondered? As it happened, we didn’t need them.
First, we chose to try Calamari Pepper Fry (crispy panko-fried squid seasoned with black pepper and curry leaf podi, served with chilli tomato chutney). These were piping hot, beautifully crispy, with a delicate heat that came through at the end. The portion was very generous too, and ample to share.
Next, we had Chilli Chicken (Calcutta street-style chicken stir-fried with garlic, chilli sauce, onions and peppers). It arrived sizzling with crispy noodles piled on top.The chicken pieces had been coated with spices, then fried and covered in the sauce. We were advised on ordering that it was quite spicy, but, for us, the heat was perfectly balanced – it was ‘comfortably warming’.
And then to the Chaat; reader, this was divine. Banarasi Palak Patta Chaat was ‘off the chaat chart’ as far as I was concerned. It comprised crispy gram flour-battered spinach (tempura style) topped with potato chaat, pomegranate, yogurt, tamarind and mint. When I want a light lunch in town this will be perfect. It really was so delicious. It was crispy, with a fabulous melange of textures and flavours, and bursts of juicy pomegranate seeds.
We were, not surprisingly quite replete, by this time, but having been recommended the Barrah Lamb Chop (house marinated lamb chops grilled and served with mint chutney and onion salad) we opted to try just one more savoury dish. There were just two of these beauties, but they were cooked beautifully: pink, really tender and with a delicate heat. The only – very minor – criticism was that they could do with a more thorough butchering, as there were some extra bits of bone that needn’t have been there, and as I have had quite a few rather expensive crowns, I had to be extra careful!
Despite the menu promising a raft of fabulous Indian desserts, we only had room for a small taste of kulfi, so we shared a pistachio and a mango portion. Had we not had more than an ‘elegant sufficiency’, there was Saffron Malai cheesecake, Gulab Jamun Brulee and purple carrot halwa on offer, but they will have to wait until our next visit – which will hopefully be soon!
Oorja offers all-day dining, so for breakfast you can enjoy Egg Burji on Toast, Vegan Dalla Porridge or share a Oorja Sawera Kebab Platter if feeling adventurous and hungry. On Sundays Oorja serves its very own Indian-inspired Sunday Roast, offering a different take on the classic British tradition. Tandoori Spiced Tender and Succulent Roast Beef with crispy Yorkshire puddings, golden roasted potatoes, mixed vegetables, topped with garam masala beef gravy sounds incredibly good…
The Seasoned Gastronome