Hankies, Shaftsbury Avenue: Reliable go-to with no frills and a little bill

Hankies isn't a revelation, but the simple goodness in the cooking means David Ellis will keep popping in
David Ellis @dvh_ellis12 December 2017

I’d sort of thought people had realised TripAdvisor was a crock a while ago, until a group of friends said they used it to check if a restaurant was worth going to.

My friends! Not weirdos on the tube, fedora wearers, or those people who phone into Jeremy Vine. People I go for meals with, holiday with, try to sleep with. ‘That many people can’t be wrong,’ went the argument, which is the same rot that’s led to Trump sleeping in the White House and is the reason Linkin Park (!!) have the highest selling debut album of the 21st century (I wish I was joking). All of which is to say Hankies was immediately intriguing, seeing as its held onto a five star rating Trip Advisor since opening. They couldn’t all be from PRs pretending to be real humans, surely?

Hankies – yes, like you blow your nose on, only to describe the way they fold bread – sits where spirited Japanese Yumi Izakaya once used to be, on Shaftsbury Avenue. It serves the kind of easy-going North Indian cooking that’s built for snacking and (surprise surprise) sharing. It does bill itself as a Delhi Street Cafe, after all. And like in Delhi, tables here come and go quickly; it’s a place for beers and bites and having fun. I tend linger over meals: we were done at Hankies after an hour and a half, and I was trying.

Dishes are built around roti: hot breads blown up like balloons over a gas stove, then deflated and spun till they're as thin and flat as shirt cloth. It is a spectacle to watch one being done.

Order a few: there are probably rules for roti, but it’s more fun to pair them with everything and anything. The price allows for this. Small plates encourage big orders, but you’d struggle to really end up with a heft bill here, as every dish is under £10, and most sit around the £4-6.

Trusy base: roti is the star of the show

So dive in: the small plates, like Dahi Puri (okra, onion, pomegranate, rice puffs and chilli tomato chutney) suit being scooped right up and washed down with a cool beer, then followed with the house Dahl, a surprisingly rich concoction of black lentils. 'Cholay' has that slightly off-putting eggy, masala smell, but plenty of broad flavour and crackling spice.

Move on swiftly, though, to the main plates: a chilli lamb chop comes soft and oozing juices, but woof, is the chilli there. Have an emergancy drink to hand – the Lassi’s are reasonably authentic, the yoghurt working like a cool blanket, a fire-fighter in a bottle.

Most impressive to look at – it does matter, don’t pretend otherwise – is the sea bream fried in spices: it comes head, tail, everything, lying on the plate in a golden hue of hot chilli and pepper, sprinkled lovingly in raw onions. The lemon tempers its kick. Easy off the bones, the bream is flavourful enough to be fight off being drowned by its coating.

Vivid: many of the dishes at Hankies are as flavourful as they are colourful

Not everything impresses. The guinea fowl seekh kebab sounds more exciting than it is: ‘perfectly inoffensive’ I jot down, hardly a riotous endorsement. I suspect someone knows a cheap guinea fowl supplier, otherwise, why have it on the menu? It's mild flavour is lost in this context.

Likewise, puddings are fine: we have mango and pistachio kulfi .These are grown up mini milks; no other description fits. A little ordinary, but then, who doesn’t love mini milks?

Hankies isn’t a revolutionary restaurant. It doesn’t particularly plug a gap, it doesn’t plate up gaspingly exquisite cooking. But, it is cheap and reliable, and good fun. It offers no frills. You don't need frills here. Frills would get stuck in your teeth.

Come with friends. Tell your friends. I could even persuade mine to come: turns out, Trip Advisor got one right.

The best food in London

1/17

Hankies: the lowdown

Final flavour: North Indian sharing plates

At what cost? Rotis £1.50, most plates £4 - 6, topping out at £10, drinks around £4

Visit if you like: Calcutta Street, Kricket, Lahore

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