Covid and The Lockdowns (wouldn’t that be a fab name for an alt-rock group? - just sayin’) proved to be a pivotal time for many businesses and people; one of them being Safir, who we’d met when he had Delhi Nights Indian restaurant in South Normanton. Fast forward a few years and this lovely chap is now the proud owner of a new venue in Southwell, Lasani Indian. Safir kindly invited The Man Bird and myself along to try the Thali that the team offer diners on Sundays; this set meal has only been on the menu for mere weeks, but it’s already proving popular.
Now, if it’s swish surroundings you like, Lasani is your [restaurant] tribe; this restaurant serves up ‘extra’ right from the pavement, with its red-rope, V.I.P entrance! As you step inside, there’s a striking private dining/overflow room that has black ceilings and a huge chandelier twinkling brightly in it. Further in, there’s stone flooring, more chandeliers, black marble-effect tables, and marvellously tactile, silver velvet-clad seating. White [faux] blooms adorn the ceiling in a couple of spots and colourful artwork is in abundance.
Safir has given a lot of thought about the ambience he wanted at Lasani, and the use of wood screens to create more intimate areas was a good move. As a former pub, it would’ve been easy to lose any character but, the use of foliage, varying colours of lighting and wall colours, gives plenty of personality to the restaurant. I particularly loved the huge, full wall banquettes and the East/West, North/South arrangement of the tables – no more struggling to shuffle past fellow diners if you need to answer nature’s call.
The black cloth napkins were pleasingly weighty and were placed gently in our laps as we took our seats. Grace was our server for the evening, and soon got us sorted out with drinks: sparkling water for me, pint of draught Cobra lager for His Nibs. We were having the Thali menu, £23 per person, and this doesn’t include any Poppadoms, but we decided to have one each and a pickle tray to nibble at and quell our immediate hunger pangs. Wonderfully light and crispy, the Poppadoms were partnered by a tangy, spiced Onion Salad, Mango Chutney, and a fragrant Kiwi & Coriander Chutney; I love Coriander, so this was my personal favourite. There was also a small bowl of what I would call upmarket Bombay Mix on the table for us to pick at, and this was really tasty with its multi-layered flavour profile.
Although the Thali menu is set out in course strata (from which you pick your starter, mains and rice or bread), it actually all arrives on one circular tray for each person. There is a choice of four main course curries, so His Nibs and I just ordered two each, to cover all four bases, and said we’d play nicely and share. Grace placed the pair of trays in front of us, as well as a smaller decorated bowl that housed some sort of crystalline rocks. These rocks turned out to be compressed Carbon Dioxide crystals that were soon billowing out dramatic swathes of odourless ‘dry ice’ smoke across our space – I do love table theatre, and this was certainly spectacular!
Golgappa (a hollow, crisp Puri filled with savoury mixed vegetables) were the first morsels to pass our lips…after they had been drenched in Tamarind water – very tasty. I’d chosen the Fish Amritsari as the starter, The Man had the Sabzi Samosa. A sizeable Tilapia fillet had been coated in a light batter spiced with Ginger, fresh Roasted Garlic, and a hint of Kashmiri Chilli that had my taste buds dancing happily. His Nibs’ beautifully crunchy Samosa was stuffed full of spiced mixed vegetables, with accompanying Chick Peas that were also tangily spiced.
At this point, we arranged the four bowls of Curry in the centre of the table and spooned what we wanted from each one. Each curry was different from its cousin; the only common denominators were the bases and meats: two were Cream-based, two Tomato; two dishes contained Chicken, and two contained Lamb. Spice levels and flavour profiles were completely different between the four mains, though all were delicious. The Chicken and Lamb were plentiful, tender and moist in the mouth, and were generous chunks; Lasani certainly don’t skimp on the satiety of their dishes in the Thali platter. Each bowl had a garnish of fresh Herbs decorating it, and the plain yoghurt was scattered with Pomegranate Seeds – very easy on the eye.
Tarka Dahl was the side dish on our platters, and there was a generous amount of this hearty Ginger, Cumin, and Roasted Garlic- pimped Lentil dish to savour – even better, it was a great texture: thicker and more unctuous that the usual ‘soupy’ consistency that you tend to find in Indian restaurants. This was surprisingly tasty, though how often do I say that it’s often the simple things that are the best?
A sizeable mound of Pilau Rice proved invaluable in helping scoop up the curries’ sauce, and each one was way too scrummy to not get every last bit up! The rice grains were beautifully fluffy and zhuzhed with spices that had clearly been chosen to complement the mains themselves. I have to say that the Paratha bread here was possibly the best I’ve eaten; it was ridiculously flaky and richly buttery, but wasn’t clarty or claggy at all. This treat also got put to good use in rounding up any stray scraps that thought they could escape our greedy tummies.
No surprise when I tell you that our Thali platters and bowls were looking spotless when we finally put our cutlery down. After taking everything away, Grace returned with some fragrant hot towels for us to cleanse our hands with and these weren’t those harsh ‘toilet freshener’ Lemon ones either; the fragrance was gentler and more herbal. Another huge difference was that they were cloth ones rather than the baby wipe type ones. Lasani certainly includes those nicer touches that elevate your dining experience.
Whilst we were there, I noticed that children were present in a family group, so Lasani is definitely child-friendly. The Thali is available on Sundays only, between 1pm-8pm; Lasani is open Mon-Thurs 5pm-10pm, Fri&Sat 5pm-11pm and [obvs] Sunday 1pm-8pm. To book a table call 01636 370383 or visit the website www.lasanisouthwell.co.uk and hit the ‘make a reservation’ tab.
Hot Wings very happily given to Safir and his team; it may be a bit of a drive (though a really straight-forward one) to get to Lasani, but it’s well worth it.
