Built into the side of the Montcalm hotel in London, just metres away from Marble Arch, is Hankies restaurant. Hankies is a casual Indian street food restaurant serving Indian Tapas and specialising in serving Roomali Roti – classic Indian roti which is hand spun till it’s thin enough to breathe through, cooked on a burning hot Tawa and folded into ‘Hankies’ (roomali is a translation for “small towel”).
We went on Friday night and were served a bespoke vegan set meal which you can order ahead of time, either the morning of or ideally 24 hours in advance. The restaurant manager made it clear that they are looking at incorporating more vegan dishes onto the menu overall as he’s aware of the shift in the general public and the rampant rise in non-violent consumption.
So considering the name of the restaurant, I was keen to try the name-sake dish, but usually it is made with egg, however, the roomali chef kindly created a vegan version especially for us, along with a three course meal which included bhindi bhel (pictured below), gol guppa (aka pani puri), sweet potato bomb and almond cutlet for starters. The main consisted of yellow tadka dal, brussel sprout dry curry, saag shulgum (turnip curry), saffron rice and naan. The roomali roti also came at this time. For dessert, we experienced mango and fruit of the forest sorbet with and exotic fruit platter.
Personal favourites for me were the bhindi bhel, literally such an iconic dish that I have experienced a multitude of times, but this time was by far the best, it was zesty, the pomegranates were extremely good quality and the overall texture was beautiful. I also loved the almond cutlet which was served with tamarind and the sweet potato bomb, also with tamarind – a key component to the Dehli meets South Indian culinary regions. For mains, my favourite was the tadka dal which was perfectly textured and tasted incredible.
If you’re drinking, there is a vegan Merlot on the menu, it’s interesting how often people don’t realise that most wines are non-vegan, they either have milk proteins, gelatin, are filtered through fish bladders or contain egg white. Well there you go! We have a challenge on our hands wine industry, I have faith that you can evolve yourselves too!
Excited to see which options make the main menu, but definitely a spot if you fancy a vegan Indian, just give them some warning!
You can book here directly and check out the Hankies website here.