It is said that the core of a typical Indian dinner (or lunch) is rice, or a flatbread, and a lentil stew (dal). Simple, tasty, and not overly filling. Yet the most common Indian menus in the UK bundle up a starter, a main dish, a vegetable side dish, and rice or naan. That volume of food might be considered a little challenging for lunchtime, especially if the afternoon is to be spent working or in any form of work, sport, or physical recreation.

However, Indians when eating in India aren’t confined in their dining choices to taking a couple of dishes from a 3-course restaurant menu. They have Indian food – not surprisingly – for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and as snacks in between. That means they can choose from more options and combinations than are ordinarily found on a menu in an Indian restaurant in the UK.

The famous writer on Indian food, Madhur Jaffrey, is quoted as saying, “Indian cuisine is a mosaic that mirrors the cultural diversity of this vast country. Each region boasts its own unique flavours, and the result is a symphony of spices and aromas.” That mosaic includes dishes for all occasions and moods, and the Shampan restaurants love honouring that diversity and heritage by creating their own unique symphony.

Executive Chef Sadek Miah sets the standard for the  food in the Shampan restaurants, having worked in each of the Group‘s restaurants in the London boroughs of Bromley and Bexley, and most of all the flagship destination, The Spinning Wheel at Westerham in Kent, for nearly 20 years. 

He said, “You can come to any of the Shampan restaurants and enjoy a light meal at lunchtime. A single main course with rice or naan, or one or two carefully selected starters, alongside a refreshing cocktail, such as the ever-popular Mojito or Virgin Mojito, can provide a lovely interlude in the daytime and set you up for the rest of the day.

The lighter side doesn’t stop there, as Sadek said, “When we provide outside catering, for example at the Bromley BuzzUp events, and recently Limpsfield Chart’s Street Food event, the starters and side dishes and mains served without the richest sauces are often popular.”

If you would like to explore Indian food on the lighter side at a Shampan restaurant, do come and try it out, or talk with us about options for catering for your event. We are just as warm and professional when out and about as we are in our own restaurants.