'I Got 5 On It'

Zumbura
36a Old Town
Clapham
London
SW4 0LB

Comfortably cushioned between a range of brunch spots, cafes and coffee shops, Zumbara entices passer bys with its open plan provincial Asian design. Minimalistic in its decoration, the fresh feel of the restaurant is enhanced by the outdoor seating area which on a sunny day, seamlessly pours into indoor seating sealed off by the solid wooden cocktail bar.

Whilst simplistic, the choice of décor has glimpses of intricate artistic patterns which capture a wondering mind, keeping you hostage and almost forgetting where exactly you are. So much so, we got so caught in the ambience, as we stared up at the orate ceiling design, our raging hunger soon disappeared. 

Greeted and seated, we were brought over glasses of water with the menu - without asking might we note!

We were encouraged to order 7 dishes to share between us, (music to our ears) so we opted for 2 starters, 2 mains, 2 breads, 1 vegetable option. Like most tapas style restaurants, the food is bought to the table when it is ready so although the menu is set out in courses, diners should not expect a traditional starter, main and dessert arrangement.

Drinks

As you may have noticed we love a good cocktail. Jamelia went for Fruity Wallah and Candace went for a recommended popular choice Molly Moo Moo (who comes up with these names lol). 

Fruity Wallah
& Molly Moo Moo

Light Opening Starter

After tasting Jamelia’s cocktail, Candace soon wished she had opted for the refreshing, citric, mojito like drink - Fruity Wallah. 
Soon after the drinks were brought over, a light opening sampler; chopped carrots and an assortment of onions and peppers. These were partnered with 2 sauces, a green raita style sauce and brown sauce, which had more of a bbq tang. Jamelia tasted the green raita sauce which immediately got the juices flowing, and instilled some real confidence that the mains to follow would definitely make it worth the hour drive to get to this restaurant!

Candace tried both sauces and ultimately preferred the green. It complimented the carrots really well and could easily pass for a light snack between meals; a nice way to awaken the pallet as we were STARVING!

Tapas Dishes

Pakora

Dishes 1 and 2: First to arrive were the 'starter' options, Pakora and Aloo Tikia. The Pakora, resembled an onion bajji, and was a deliciously crispy, crunchy, lightly fried blend of spinach, onion and chick pea flour fritters. This was definitely a crowd favourite!

Aloo Tikia

The Aloe Tikia (spiced potato cake) was not as warmly welcomed. Anticipating a crunch on the outside and soft seasoned potato as a filling, like a roast potato - instead, the outside was just as soft creating a somewhat confusing consistency was a little unusual tasting. It’s probably one of those dishes that takes some getting used to but happy to have tried it nonetheless.

Dishes 3 and 4: Next came the Sikkiwe Chops and Machli Ka Salon, translation – Lamb Chops and Fish Curry. 

Sikkiwe Chops

Candace loves a well marinated lamb chop and this was exactly that. Sometimes you can feel short changed based on the amount of meat with lamb but this was not the case; cooked to perfection, it was a great choice and the perfect portion size. 

Jamelia hit a gold mine with her fish curry. Never before had she tasted such a creamy, light, non oily, guilt free curry in all her years. What was most suprising was that the seasoning an overall flavour was very understated allowing the tastes from the other dishes to add to the dish without stealing the show entirely. 

Ghuggni

Dishes 5, 6 and 7: Ghuggni was served as a our healthy addition to the meal. A chick pea side dish packed with flavour in itself but also perfectly complimented our Poori and Paratha just right.  Might we add that again these breads were not too oily, but again contained just the right amount of individual flavour! Two very traditional breads that we would definitely opt for again - so much so that we completely forgot that the restaurant did not offer Peshawari Naan (our fave)! 

Paratha Bread

Zumbura captures the essences of Asian flavours with very little excess oil, not only making the dishes taste lighter but all look much more appealing and involves less sauce stirring action. 

Dessert
For desserts we opted for Ice Cream. To our despair there was no chocolate brownie on the menu this time, but the Pistachio and Vanilla ice creams were the perfect light happy ending to a perfectly portioned exotic meal.

Already planning our next visit, Zumbura takes diners on a less formal North East Indian dining experience with plenty of choice and what is best, the tapas style adaptation doesn't force you to choose! It is definitely one of the best Indians we’ve tasted to date!

Great staff, clean fresh feel, light healthy homemade dishes and an overall chilled environment.  We will be back again soon!

Pistachio Ice Cream

Price: £20 pp
Tastecard: Denied (but we've suggested it to be added to the list!)

WOM Spits and Chews

Spits:

• Expand! Open a bigger venue so we can come back and have a party!
• A few more dessert options - Chocolate Brownie (we know it isn't Indian, but you can't go wrong!)

Chews:

• -       All things considered….. Everything!

Overall WOM Rating: 5 kisses out of 5

Overall Verdict? CHEWS :)