Chook Chook Indian Railway Kitchen in Putney is an absolute delight and comes strongly recommended.
Chook Chook is hidden in a small corner of Putney, but finding it is well worth the journey.
Designed to look like an old school train carriage, the interior is delightful and the booths actually feel like you’re eating an Indian meal in an old school, albeit plusher, train carriage.
There was plenty of options to choose from, both to drink and eat and the staff made sure that we felt at home when my friend and I arrived.
We had cocktails to start, a long island Chook Chook style for her and a negroni for me. Both were excellent – and the passoa was a nice touch for the long island.
The incredibly attentive servers kept us topped up all night, and there was never a long wait for a dish of some sort to arrive on our table, be that poppadoms, starters or mains.
We started with poppadoms and chutneys while we decided what to order and there was an interesting selection, making them and a strong way to whet our appetite for more.
After the poppadoms, we had an absolute raft of incredible starters, each of which hit the spot in a different way.
The tandoori chicken was my choice and it was perfectly cooked and spiced, while my friend chose the minced lamb on a bun which was arguably an even better choice.
We also had some chilli prawns, lamb chops and pani puri alongside those and if that sounds like possibly a lot of food for just starters then you would be right.
Nevertheless, I don’t think either of us regretted any choices. The chilli prawns were absolutely delightful, the pani puri were superb and the lamb chops were probably the highlight of the whole meal.
In fact, we both agreed that they were among the best lamb chops we’d ever had.
By the time the mains arrived, we were both concerned about where we’d find the space, but we somehow managed it – admittedly with the help of a little takeaway box.
For mains, I went with a railway chicken curry, while she had the house lamb – both of us keen to avoid being too boring and going with a tikka masala or a butter chicken.
That being said, I got the impression that anything we ordered would have been excellent, as both of our curries, supported ably by garlic naan and pilau rice, were absolutely delicious.
If I’m being critical, the lamb could have done with a little more sauce, and my sauce could have been a tiny bit thicker, but these are absolutely small nitpicks of what was overall a very high quality meal.
I’d love to be able to comment on the dessert options, but by the time we’d finished our mains – and packed what we couldn’t manage into our takeaway box – we simply didn’t have room, which is a testament to how much we enjoyed the rest of the meal.
Overall, I couldn’t recommend Chook Chook Indian Railway Kitchen more. The service was great, the food was excellent and the ambience was exactly what I needed for a relaxing evening. I would definitely choose it again.
You can check out the menu and book a table here.
