Brilliant

Surprisingly I’ve never been to Southall before, so when my parents decided last minute that they wanted to trek it out there I had no idea where to go. A friend of mine mentioned a place called Brilliant because he’d seen them on the TV show Ramsay’s Best Restaurants (but he couldn’t remember quite how far they’d got). Hardly the most rigorously vetted recommendation but it was the best I had to go on so it was worth a shot.

The place was busy and lively. The relatively simple black and orange colour scheme place it firmly in the modern camp that have ditched the outdated red and white faux-ornate, faux-authentic furniture of your traditional curry house. This makes it comfortable and pleasant whilst remaining rather generic and not especially interesting. But maybe it’s unfair to refer to Brilliant as a ‘curry house’ because judging by the reams of writing on their menu and website, this family-run establishment appears to (fortunately) take its cooking quite seriously. They even have ‘healthy options’ of certain dishes that are cooked using olive oil (instead of ghee) and low fat yoghurt (instead of cream or full fat yoghurt), which is something I particularly appreciated.

The manager came over and whilst my mum used her Punjabi to sort us out with a few recommendations we got some salted and mango lassis to get us going. The mango lassi was a decent version and not too thick as is sometimes the case, whilst the salted lassi was pretty impressive. The cumin was a powerful dimension that worked exceedingly well and for some reason was something I’d never had in a lassi before.

Mango lassi

What I didn’t realise was that the portions are pretty large (excellent). Starters of Jeera (cumin) chicken, tandoori La-Jawab prawns & shammi kebabs were not far off from filling the hunger void completely. The prawns were a bit over cooked, a real shame because the spicing was wonderful, along with that lovely charred flavour from the tandoor. On the other hand the chicken was very succulent and had another excellent marinade that was slightly unusual, with a strong note coming from the cumin once again. The kebab was a bit of a disappointment, whilst tasty, it had a slightly bouncy texture and was covered in batter, making it look like an Indian battered sausage. To be fair, it did say there would be a batter on the menu but I hadn’t read that.

Shammi kebab

La-Jawab prawns

Jeera chicken

Methi (fenugreek) chicken and lamb karahi mains were well-constructed versions of these classics with a deep, rich flavour. The naan was soft and doughy but the tandoori lachha paratha and roomali roti were especially good. By the end we were all pretty stuffed and had to take the leftovers home with us.

Methi chicken

Lamb karahi

Naan, lachha paratha & roomali roti

Brilliant is definitely a step or two above your usual Indian restaurants. I don’t know how it compares to others in Southall but their food is definitely far more authentic and infinitely tastier than the curry houses I am sometimes subjected to around Brick Lane and such like. Prices are reasonable, whilst the menu has that peculiar habit of many of the starters being a similar price to the mains, but then again they are also practically as big. Brilliant may not quite live up to the name but you won’t go far wrong here, a solid and enjoyable neighbourhood restaurant.

Price: Main courses £5-14

Where to go before/next: Unfortunately this was my one and only trip to Southall thus far and I was only there to eat so i don't know much about the area

Website: Click here

Location: 72-76 Western Road, Southall, Middlesex UB2 5DZ

Opening Times: Lunch 12.00 - 15.00 (Tues - Fri). Dinner 18.00 - 23.30 (Tues - Thurs & Sun) 18.00 - 00.00 (Fri - Sat)