Restaurant Review: A new menu at Nutmeg Indian Street Kitchen

Posted on: 18 Sep 2024

"A fragrant, five-star journey into Himalayan cuisine"

When I moved to Bristol in 2022, I immediately took up the hunt for good food, and one of the first restaurants to come up in conversation was Nutmeg. As Clifton’s most popular Indian spot, Nutmeg offers an intimate, elegant dining experience with a range of vibrant dishes “inspired by the diversity of India and its 29 states.”

 

Today, the team behind Nutmeg owns several eateries across the city, but Nutmeg Indian Street Kitchen is a real jewel among them. With a more contemporary energy than its older sister, this branch serves Himalayan-inspired cuisine, with a “farm-to-market” focus on fresh produce. I was absolutely thrilled to be invited along to try their new menu.

 

Perfectly positioned for theatregoers (it’s right next to the Hippodrome), this is a restaurant that prioritises style and substance. The interiors are warm, plush and colourful, bringing to mind somewhere a bit more tropical than St Augustine’s Parade on a Tuesday in September. Details like the ochre velvet banquette, Persian-style rugs and beautifully woven ceiling (all of which do an excellent job of softening noise) are instantly luxurious.

With such a pleasing aesthetic, the worry is the food will prioritise fashion over flavour — but I’m happy to report there’s no such compromise at Nutmeg Indian Street Kitchen. To start, we enjoyed the popular Kolkatan dish Tangra Chilli Chicken, which brought a rich and sticky heat, but the Chilli Gobhi was the most moreish for me, with just the right level of crunch and tangy sweetness.

 

Yet the new curries and “large plates” were the real stars of the show. After a little bit of a wait, we were served the fantastic Bashi Pork Kosha — tender Bengali pork belly in a smooth yoghurt and onion gravy (impossible not to mop up every drop with a peshwari naan). We also savoured every mouthful of the Rara Rump, an aromatic lamb dish that manages to be hearty and feather-light all at once, served with a rich minced lamb sauce.

 

I have to give special mention to pudding, a sumptuous, substantial chocolate tart packed with hazelnuts was a surprisingly perfect way to round off the meal (and I recommend ordering a mango kulfi as a fresh and fruity accompaniment).  

Lastly, the whole experience was elevated by the staff, who were warm and detail-oriented without falling into the overattentive trap. We had fantastic cocktails from the servers behind the bar and generally felt very well looked after by a friendly, charismatic team who clearly work well together.

 

You should absolutely visit Nutmeg Indian Street Kitchen for fragrant, filling Indian food in a cosy, inviting setting.

 

That’s quite enough of me salivating — if you’d like to sample the new menu yourself, head over to their website and book a table!

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