Aroma Spice - Hampstead's Hidden Gem

 

Mohammed Bakth and his son Karim of Aroma Spice are justly proud of their family business. For the past 16 years, Aroma Spice has been successfully satisfying diners with an appetite for fine Indian cuisine in one of London’s most affluent areas.  With a rapidly changing demographic and burgeoning local competition, Aroma Spice has not only retained its loyal customer base, it has also continued to attract new fans – including Oasis’s Liam Gallagher and self confessed curry lover and actor, Phil Daniels.

From outside the restaurant blends in well with Hampstead’s eclectic coterie of exclusive shop fronts and village atmosphere – and amazingly, there is parking right outside the door! Inside the theme is chic and urban. Black leather seats, modern paintings and crisp white linen tablecloths add to the sense of style, augmented by fresh flowers, quality dinner settings and - a nice touch - Norwegian sparkling water.

Karim, 26, tells us that Indian restaurants have always been an integral part of his life and he has vivid memories of being carried on his father’s shoulders to work when he was a young boy. “I still recall running round the restaurant, going in and out of the kitchen and the spice stores and watching the chefs cook. “From the age of five I knew that this was where I wanted to be,” he says.

Confident, engaging and somewhat snazzily dressed, Karim is an ideal front man for any business and thrives on interacting with customers. Unlike his older brother who decided to take a different path as a property developer, Karim’s ambition was to carry on the family business. After graduating from university in Business Management he seized the opportunity to join his father “with both hands and legs” realising he was very fortunate to jump straight into a running concern. “Not many people get to step on a plateau like this. It’s the only freehold restaurant in Hampstead and I would have been foolish to waste such an opportunity.”

Mohammed, understandably, prefers to take more of a sideline these days having managed restaurants for some 30-40 years including Poppadom in Belsize Park. But Karim recognises the huge debt he owes to his dad: “I think the level of experience gained by working with my father has been better than anything I could learn at school or read in any book. My father has been my copy book; you can’t top that kind of training.”

Even so you get the impression that both men have a very hands-on role in the business. “If there’s anything for us to get involved we will do,” Mohammed says. “We may look up market but we are a very unpretentious family restaurant. We like to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere here so that people feel at home and then we make them as comfortable as we can. If you come in at the weekend you’ll find grandmothers, granddad’s, parents and kids in here – that’s what I really love about this place. Our food and service is paramount and everything else is a bonus. If you don’t care about what you’re serving you shouldn’t be here.”

When they’re not raving about the cuisine, diners talk about Aroma Spice with great affection. Many original customers of Aroma Spice followed Mohammed when he came from Poppadom to run his own place. As Karim says, he’s such a lovely bloke they would happily support him anywhere.  He tells the story of one regular customer who was a competitor in the Iron Man race and whose mother visited from the US. As soon as she arrived she made a beeline for Aroma Spice, demanding to speak to the manager. When (with some trepidation) he identified himself, she thanked him profusely for looking after her son so well. Apparently he had told her all about them and she wanted to come in to thank them personally. Yes - they like to look after their customers at Aroma Spice.

They are, perhaps, fortunate in their affluent clientele, even if some have become slightly less affluent in recent years. Being in the celebrity epicentre of the UK, Aroma Spice has more than its fair share of famous guests.  These include Kate Winslet and Russell Crowe. Liam Gallagher has even given a personal recommendation via a video on the restaurant website whilst Phil Daniels of EastEnders and Blur’s Parklife fame, cited Aroma Spice as his favourite Indian restaurant ever.

The descriptive menu has some intriguing choices and chef Suhel Ahmed, who recently represented Britain at the Taste of Britain Curry Festival in Slovenia, at the helm diners are always in for a treat. Tawa dishes - a “secret family recipe passed through the generations” - are cooked on a flat, concave griddle made of cast iron. Delectable signatures such as Banaroshi Lamb: a recipe with roots in Nepal baked with garlic, fresh coriander and crushed pineapple, or Badami Gosht: tender lamb pieces in pistachios, almond and coconut milk sauce, are balanced with exotic Xacuti chicken or Kachi Biryani, mutton marinated and cooked in layers in a cooking pot with spiced basmati.

Selections of grilled meat dishes are an option for health conscious diners as is the spicy grilled Paneer salad. Tandoori mains include local trout. The Goan dish Khali Mirch Murgh draws flavours from the sun dried chillies while Kuko Koko Palu, another Nepalese dish, tempts the taste buds with tender chicken in a coconut pulp, coconut cream and almond sauce. Mohammed buys food fresh from a well respected wholesaler and he personally oversees and ensures the quality of all ingredients.

Sampling the wonderful mixed starters, chicken Tawa dish and grilled salmon, coated in a secret blend of herbs and spices, with Peshwari naan bread and side dishes, we experience a taste to remember. And despite the restaurant’s well heeled location, the prices are surprisingly modest, representing great value for money.

It’s easy to understand why diners love Aroma Spice. The warm and welcoming atmosphere created by the owners permeates the whole place. And, as locals are only too well aware, Aroma Spice is Hampstead’s hidden gem.

Aroma Spice, 98 Fleet Road, Hampstead, London NW3 2QX  Tel: 020 7485 6908 & 020 7267 0444