If you have followed the story of the rise and rise of The Ambrette with head
chef Dev Biswal in the local and national media you have to take note of his
latest venture. After all, The Ambrette has been named The Best Restaurant at
the Taste of Kent Awards...
THE FIRST AMBRETTE RESTAURANT opened in Margate and has been a great success;
we have dined there and enjoyed an interesting lunch. However, at Margate we
were given a table tucked away off the main dining area which was desperately
in need of some TLC. However, the second Ambrette — in Rye —
also offers good value with the same 'British Indian'-inspired food and although
the restaurant is smaller, the décor is certainly a step or two up.
The
latest Ambrette, centrally located in Canterbury's Beer Cart Lane, is the largest
so far and offers an open dining area with well-spaced tables.
“If
you enjoy Indian
cuisine with
a contemporary twist
you will enjoy
Dev Biswal’s food.
Dev has taken inspiration
from his native India,
combining spices with
western ingredients
to produce new
British Indian
taste sensations...”
Canterbury
offers a challenge as eateries are everywhere but judging from the most successful
dishes we tried, there is a space for at least one more.
We were invited for a pre-launch dinner as a part of the training of both the
new waiting staff and the team in the kitchen to develop their menus. Whilst
there was still work to be done, the potential is there.
If
you enjoy Indian cuisine with a contemporary twist you will enjoy this food.
Dev Biswal has taken inspiration from his native India, combining spices with
western ingredients to produce British Indian cuisine.
Just like the highly-acclaimed Atul Kocher (the first Indian chef to obtain
a Michelin Star), Dev's food is delicately spicy offering us new taste sensations.
Our extensive tasting menu had some clear winners: the dosai with gently spiced
potatoes, mustard and onions (and coconut, pineapple and green pea chutney)
was lovely but the zingy and lightly pickled courgette khandvi (savoury chickpea
pasta with gooseberry chutney) was a real winner.
There is a good selection of beers and it is obvious that they choose the wines
for their qualities rather than the label or the bulk buy. We had a delicious
white Chilean wine but it was different from the norm, so I asked to see the
bottle; no grape was mentioned — which I admit would have been dismissed
by me had I not already had a tasting. Homework pays off!
As a postscript, we took our own advice and revisited on a private basis and
we were more than pleasantly surprised. Dev Biswal, the owner and head chef
was in the kitchen that lunchtime and his cooking certainly warrants the shower
of accolades that have been bestowed upon him.
So, go and explore and have some fun sampling something new with some truly
British food. — Bonnie Stevens The Ambrette
14-15 Beer Cart Lane
Canterbury
Kent CT1 2NY
