#FtLionAwards 2023 Dessert of the Year shortlist

As part of FtLion’s Halal Restaurant Food Tour of Leicester, family-run cafe Bruberry served us these Churros French Toast.

When you have thick pieces of brioche bread positively saturated in an aromatic cinnamon-infused egg batter, before being fried to a crisp finish, drizzled in the finest Belgian chocolate, paired with a scoop of salted caramel ice cream, and garnished with slices of strawberries and blueberries, you know you’re on to a winner.

Chef Brinder Narula at Kachori in London’s Elephant Castle served us contenders for main and seafood. This time it’s his Salted Caramel, Jaggery & Peanut Parfait.

A wonderful dessert this, with the jaggery and peanut parfait – the latter coming through strongly – boasting an exceptionally good texture which, though smooth, was solid enough to pleasantly dissolve on the palate. Add to that the drizzle of caramel sauce, the crunchiness of the brittle on top, and the cleanliness of the glazed bananas, and this is a worthy contender.

Indian fine-dining venue Kinaara makes it five out of five with his Dhanak Kulfi Indian Ice Cream.

Recommended by Chef Imamuddin, and for good reason too given how utterly good the trio of ice creams were, what we had here were silky smooth quenelles of caramel, pistachio, and beetle spice, with the distinct flavour of pan leaf, making the never-before-tasted beetle spice therein an absolute delight.

With ‘Asian-fusion’ steakhouse Meet Bros in London Paddington in contention with a beverage and starter, this time it’s these Fried Banana Fritters.

What a wonderously innovative dish this was, with the kataifi pastry serving as a delicately crispy wrap for the banana inside, which itself was cooked in palm sugar to help caramelise it. Sprinkled with candied nuts, and topped with a soft scoop of vanilla ice cream, this was a satisfying ending.

Indian high-end restaurant Noir in north east London’s South Woodford also makes it four in a row with these Chef Nikhil Mahale’s Rasmalai To Remember.

This is still remembered to this day. Being a cross between a milk cake and a sponge cake, this was made up of layers of rather delicate sponge, and was brought to life with the pouring of the creamy-rich and not-overly-sweet cardamom-infused milk sauce.

Indian restaurant Ritu in London’s St John’s Wood joins Kinaara and Noir with five nominees on the trot.

This slow-cooked Gajjar Ka Halwa Strudel was a first for us, and, we hope, not the last. The strudel pastry was nice and flaky, with a touch of spicy-sweetness from the rabri condensed cream helping to cut through the richness of that wonderfully smooth-textured carrot filling.

With a starter in for contention, Sticky Mango in London’s Tower Bridge had Chef Patron Peter Lloyd serve us his signature Sticky Mango dessert.

Having taken the traditional and tweaked it just enough for the modern audience, the pouring of the warm coconut cream over a candy-floss dome revealed black sticky rice, as well as a smaller dome-shaped mango sorbet juxtaposed with a wedge of mango beneath.

The entire thing turned out to be delightful contrast between and the warm and cold, as well as the sticky and wet, with a sweet nectar sauce as a reward at the end to slurp down.