Restaurant review: 3 Monkeys

3 Monkeys
136/140 Herne Hill,
London SE24 9QH
020 7738 5500
A three-course meal for two with house wine and service: £70


When an Indian restaurant offers dishes “personally appreciated by Lady Diana and Prince Charles at the Maharaja of Jaipur’s palace”, you expect something a little more refined than chicken tikka masala washed down with a flat pint of Cobra. While fans of our “new national dish” may be pleased to find it on offer at 3 Monkeys, the menu does indeed aim higher than the average curry house.

Parked at the bottom of Herne Hill, 3 Monkeys doesn’t look like your standard local Indian either. It’s huge, and has clearly had a fair bit of cash thrown at its fixtures and fittings. You have to cross a drawbridge-like gallery to enter the brightly-lit dining room, which is soothingly decorated in cream and splashes of purple. The decor works well: it’s slick enough to engender a sense of occasion, but is unobtrusive.

Though the menu does a sub-continental tour, northern Indian dishes predominate among the surprisingly delicate choices on offer.

There are, of course, some hot dishes, but the subtle spicing and rich but restrained flavours here might disappoint someone who dropped by hoping for a gut-burning Balti. I enjoyed my order of Chaamp Taazdaar, a substantial portion of rack of lamb braised with cloves, cardamon and pathar ke phool (whatever that is). The meat tasted almost perfumed and was flakingly tender. The green mangoes with lentils and burnt garlic I also tried. However, it was slightly too self-effacing for me, the lentils disguising the mango.

My friend’s Murgh e Firdaus – the aforementioned favourite of our warring royals – turned out to be tender chicken paupiettes stuffed with cumin and chicken mousse, swimming in a rich sauce sharpened up with whole pomegranate seeds.

It’s sophisticated, unusual offerings like this that make 3 Monkeys well worth a visit.