KOKUM Indian restaurant & bar

[LondonFermentation]

On 29/07/2023 at 13:23, malumbu said:

I'm planning to try the South Indian and Sri Lankan places near St George's hospital in Tootling.  West Croydon is also a good place. I expect that these places are more down to earth than Kokum - that's not a criticism but a fact.

Barbur sets the standard for high end in this area, although now very much fusion.  I've only once eaten at the Cinemmon club, fortunately I was being treated £££££.

Happy to try your home cooked food, I shared some of my Indian recipes on EDF during lock down.

As with the majority of Indians I do not eat meat.  The veggy restaurant that the Cheeseblock people ran was great but closed years ago.

Babur is yum, only had a takeaway from there recently. I'm a carnivore but if you want some of my fave vegan Sri Lankan recipes, beetroot curry, kale mallung and pol roti are delicious and easy to make.

Some links for you: 

https://www.theflavorbender.com/sri-lankan-beetroot-curry/

https://www.theflavorbender.com/sri-lankan-pol-roti-coconut-roti/

https://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2011/08/kale-mallung-sri-lankan-kale-with-coconut.html

[malumbu]

Good stuff, thanks.  I'll be making the Sri Lankan curry powder too!

[LondonFermentation]

11 hours ago, malumbu said:

Good stuff, thanks.  I'll be making the Sri Lankan curry powder too!

Good on ya - I never bother. Just buy it from the Sri Lankan store near Catford (Ganesha)

[emz_167]

We went to Kokum tonight and really recommend for those you haven’t been yet! The food is delicious. 

[heartblock]

We went this evening -very good. Authentic and delicious!

[newresidentindulwich]

We went last night and it was fantastic. Better than both Babur and Heritage in our opinions. 

[TaVa]

The 3 dishes we had were delicious and the service friendly and efficient. However, the 'Papad & Pickle' (a broken papadum with 2 tiny dishes of Chutney and yogurt sauce) at £5.5 and the Tandoori Roti at £3.50 are totally overpriced and should be complementary considering the above average prices of the main dishes.

[DadOf4]

We went on Friday.
Wow, just WOW !  I loved it so much, I left them their first TripAdvisor review.

 

[KS23]

i went last night! really tasty and felt like i was in soho ! really recommend it!

[granadaland]

review of Indian restaurant The Kokum in East Dulwich by Andy Hayler in September 2023

 

We really enjoyed it on a recent visit. Great food and friendly service.

Found this review whilst browsing

 

[CPR Dave]

That review from Andy Hayler is exceptional. All he does is travel the world reviewing the very best restaurants. He's one of the finest restaurant critics there is and his praise is not easily won.

To receive such an excellent review from him is wonderful. The team at Kokum must be very pleased with that and it is well deserved.

[Simeron Lily Patel]

https://www.standard.co.uk/going-out/restaurants/indian-restaurants-east-dulwich-new-restaurant-b1114453.html

[Umber]

Had dinner at Kokum this week, the food is delicious, superb. It's not very often you look at a menu and feel spoilt for choice.

Service was attentive, cocktails flowing past looked impressive.

Our bottle of red for £23 starting price point was a winner and I'd like to return.

The lighting needs some refinement to match the standard of the food. Domestic track and pendant lights in such a high space to the front and rear fail to provide any quality of light at table level. A quick fix would be to pop some tea light candles on tables for now to assist with the ambiance on an evening.

The very odd large round wall lights in the middle section don't help. Invest in wall lights, acoustic elements and maybe revisit the music.

Other guests were saying the same thing on our visit.

Good luck Kokum

 

 

[bonaome]

This is basically Gymkhana, transplanted into East Dulwich.

Food is superb. Wine list is fair. Cocktails lovely. Atmosphere buzzy.

Popadoms, 3  starters, 2 mains, 1 pilau rice, a pershwari naan and some potatoes. 2 cocktails, 2 wine. £136, incl service.

So it isn’t cheap, but for the quality of the food and drinks I would say it’s pretty good value.

We will be back! (But it won’t replace Memsaab as our go to curry house). It’s a very different proposition to the tandooris on the high street. And a very welcome addition to the neighbourhood, in my book.

[Sue]

13 hours ago, bonaome said:

This is basically Gymkhana, transplanted into East Dulwich.

Food is superb. Wine list is fair. Cocktails lovely. Atmosphere buzzy.

Popadoms, 3  starters, 2 mains, 1 pilau rice, a pershwari naan and some potatoes. 2 cocktails, 2 wine. £136, incl service.

So it isn’t cheap, but for the quality of the food and drinks I would say it’s pretty good value.

We will be back! (But it won’t replace Memsaab as our go to curry house). It’s a very different proposition to the tandooris on the high street. And a very welcome addition to the neighbourhood, in my book.

Out of interest, why Memsaab?

[Pugwash]

Seems out of our price range but imagine it could be around £50 without the alcohol.

[Sue]

21 hours ago, Pugwash said:

Seems out of our price range but imagine it could be around £50 without the alcohol.

Yes it's expensive, and so is the alcohol!

Mostly wine, and cocktails such as an overpoweringly  cardamom flavoured negroni.

If you prefer lager, very small glasses of it.

They are clearly not trying to attract the vindaloo and six pints Saturday night crowd, if those people still exist 🤣

[spider69]

I am sure they do but not in the Lordship Lane resident criteria.

Perhaps people should watch Bremmer, bird and Fortune dinner party sketches.

Not a lot has changed in attitudes

 

[bonaome]

On 06/02/2024 at 11:53, Sue said:

Out of interest, why Memsaab?

I’ve found the food there the best (for us) of the local Indian offerings. I appreciate others may disagree etc. all the sauces are made off separate bases and they have nice little flavour touches - fresh herbs, whole spices etc. 

[Ruffler]

A glowing review of Kokum by Grace Dent in today's Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/food/2024/feb/16/kokum-london-dulwich-se22-grace-dent-restaurant-review