Scene

Scene was one of the first of the new wave of Indian restaurants that left the flock wallpaper and the dodgy neon behind to offer street food and authentic cooking. It’s still got it. Inside, it’s cool and contemporary but still casual, outside there’s a large terrace. The cocktail menu has been thought about carefully and the menu is full of the sort of real Indian food we’ve come to expect from our curry houses.

One-size-fits-all vats of curry sauce base are gone, to be replaced by delights like chapali kebab, Mumbai pav bhaji and lamb nihari. Even straightforward chicken tikka moves up a notch with royal Kashmiri tikka. The menu is full of regional specialities such as safed murgh karahi from Lahore and Rajasthani laal mas.

Prawn jalfrezi and the like are still on the menu, hidden away apologetically at the back. But you don’t go to Scene for a vindaloo and ten pints, you go to actually enjoy the food.