Salocin

The Mint Leaf Restaurant

I had not heard of the Mint Leaf restaurant, although apparently that puts me in the minority. In case you should be equally in the dark, it is situated below ground near the southern end of Haymarket near Trafalgar Square, and is currently regarded as the cream of the "Posh Indian" restaurants of London.

The decor certainly lets you know that the place takes itself seriously, with dark wooden furnishings, leather seats, atmospheric lighting and the almost forced classiness that immediately made me worry that the only accepted form of payment would be cut diamonds, and I didn't have any on me.

As it was a Monday night, we had little trouble getting a reservation, but I'm told that Thursday to Saturday, reservations are extremely hard to come by.

As you walk down the stairs that lead to the restaurant, the first thing you notice is the smell of incense, perhaps a joss-stick burning invisibly in a nearby alcove. After having one's reservation checked in the reception room at the bottom of the stairs, it is only a short walk to the Mint Leaf Bar - a very long, dark room with gentle spotlights on each table and an equally long bar with enough bottles of alcohol on display to satisfy even the most demanding of coctail fanatics.

A short spell in the bar and you're shown to your table in the restaurant - a very large room subdivided by stylish wooden partitions. The tables are all a discreet distance apart and the service was both prompt and friendly. As there were four of us, we asked the waiter to give us a selection of starters, all of which were delicious, after which we each ordered a main (I opted for the Lamb with Fenugreek leaves). We ended up sharing most of the mains, as they were mostly excellent, and quite varied, ranging from duck to prawns.

The staff make every effort not to rush you (perhaps to encourage you to drink more), but they also don't keep you waiting (the food arrives very fast). We found the service to be excellent (although the place was barely a quarter full on a monday night) and I picked up a card as I left, as I have every intention of returning.

I have read another review of the Mint Leaf, by Toby Young, and can't imagine why he took such a sudden and violent dislike to the place, he fairly sneers at it through his entire review. Given the title of his book, "How to lose friends and alienate people", he probably did it on purpose...