A dash of originality

Chanu Prat ap who has managed Mela and Chowki - both winners in different years of Best Indian Restaurant in the Tio Pepe ITV London Restaurant Awards - wrote to me about his new place of work, Origin Asia in Richmond. The menu he sent read well, so, always keen to have a good Indian meal, I hurried along.

Origin Asia has four dining areas, the one at the back opposite the open kitchen being perhaps the best. Our little party was given a table on the mezzanine level with a view of the large chandelier hung at a wonky angle which fills part of the front space.

Looking at the wall decoration of orange zigzag stripes, one of my companions remarked to his wife that it was a good thing she had worn her flock dress. She looked rather put out.

On the long list of dishes there are several that stand out on the grounds of originality, as befits Origin Asia. Whitebait dusted with caraway seeds and gramflour before being deep-fried was one, tandoor-cooked marinated soft-shell crab was another. Both turned out to be quite good ideas.

However, batakh kempu bezule, described as crispy duck fried in Mangalorian spice batter tossed with yoghurt, curry leaves and green chillies, disappointed the expectations set up by the phrase crispy duck. These were soft pieces of meat. Duck cooked in the tandoor or in the tawa where it is seared with coconut, coriander and cumin, also on the menu, might have been the better choice.

One day I will find the perfect Indian duck recipe which I'm sure will not be based on those unyielding separately packaged breasts referred to as magrets. In the first course, as well as the whitebait, we liked deep-fried mushrooms stuffed with cottage cheese, jam and pickle and a nicely savage chargrilled seekh kebab.

Best of our choice of main courses was a traditional gosht saagwala, lamb cooked with lots of spinach and garlic-and the vegetable dishes of stir-fried aubergine and Punjabi-style black dal.

You get the feeling at Origin Asia that menu-writing talents are somewhat in advance of the kitchen's understanding; the less recherché dishes seem to work best.

The staff, however, could not be bettered. They handled a long, complicated order brilliantly and were just a pleasure to deal with.

The Sunday buffets featuring a different region each week sound interesting. This coming Sunday you can visit the Malabar coast.

Origin Asia
Kew Road, Richmond Upon Thames, TW9 2PQ