Khai Khai in Newcastle, with its smoke-enhanced Indian small plates menu, has remained persistently on my list of places to go for more than 18 months, simply because people keep telling me about it. Strong word of mouth is really as good as it gets when choosing where to eat out these days.
There’s so much to quibble about right now: brief opening hours, wild prices, staffing issues, as well as a host of London openings so soulless and unwelcoming that their investors, possibly registered in the Cayman Islands for tax purposes, must be rather alarmed. So, when somewhere such as Khai Khai turns up, featuring a large scoop of Dishoom-style, broad-based likability, it’s genuinely exciting. There’s a large chunk of the familiar on offer here – lamb bhuna, biryani, vindaloo, rotis, kheema naan and so on – but there’s also a lot that will seem mysterious to some diners: kheema pav, say (minted spiced lamb mince and peas in bread), or beetroot shikampuri, which come stuffed with hung yoghurt. The breakfast menu, served from 9-11.30am, features masala mash with pooris (deep-fried bread with potato curry) and akuri toast (onion, tomato and ginger scrambled eggs). “It’s not food, it’s heritage,” it says on the menu.
