Deep Jyoti - Sidcup

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An Indian restaurant that has both mussels and wild boar on the menu has got to be worth pursuing, so it was with great curiosity that The Other Half and I bowled up to the newly opened Deep Jyoti in Sidcup.
Sharing the same building as The Black Horse pub but with two distinct entrances, the whole place has been spruced up and is both spacious (catering for up to 90 covers) and quite minimalist in style, with red panels of colour decorating the walls rather than red flock wallpaper, crisp white clothed tables, and only a couple of gilt Indian gods on the bar counter.

Cosmopolitan crowd
Manager Kamal Sandhu talked us through the menu, which he described as being one you would more associate with London restaurants than the average high street, with dishes sourced mainly from north and south-east India. “It’s aimed at a more cosmopolitan crowd than a suburban clientele,” he explained. “So many traditional curry houses seem to have forgotten what an Indian restaurant is.”
Clearly a man passionate about his cause, I decided to put myself in Kamal’s capable hands and through caution to the winds, and so it was found myself with a bowl of the famous mussels – and delicious they were. Tossed in a lemon-infused coconut milk sauce, they were creamy, delicate and extremely more-ish.

Light and exquisite
Even TOH abandoned his initially rather safe choice of char-grilled tandoori-style vegetables for the Dahi ke kebab, which turned out to be a shallow-fried yoghurt kebab filled with prune chutney. It sounds bizarre, but apparently the taste was just like its appearance – “light and exquisite.”
He did, however, decide to follow his exotic starter with a more traditional lamb rogan josh, which was described as aromatic and melt-in-the-mouth tender. Other mains ranged from chicken breast stuffed with spinach and served with a cashew nut sauce, to duck breast cooked with tomato, onion and mint, and a blend of mixed vegetables and cottage cheese cooked with mixed spices and garnished with dry fruits.

So many traditional curry houses seem to have forgotten what an Indian restaurant is

Vegetarians are well catered for at Deep Jyoti, and I was particularly intrigued by the aubergine cooked with peanuts, sesame seeds and cashew nuts, tempered with slit green chillies and curry leaves.
For my main course, I decided to pursue the fishy theme with Kamal’s recommendation of whole sea bass, cooked tandoori style and served on Naan bread. The fish was perfectly cooked, though just a bread-based accompaniment made it seem a little dry and another time I would probably add a couple of side dishes such as tarka dal or mushroom and spinach.

Heartening imagination
Nevertheless, it is extremely heartening to see such imagination threading through an Indian menu and Deep-Jyoti is to be commended. It’s perfectly possible to order a Korma, Madras or Jalfrazi curry here from a small corner of the menu called ‘traditional dishes’, but you’d be missing out on a really interesting experience.
And why not ditch the lager while you’re at it - interestingly, most of our fellow diners had opted for white or Rosé wine, a far better accompaniment for the delicate, true tastes of the cooking here.

Words by Sarah Sturt pictures by Rob Turner