Good start for Paro Indian eatery in London’s Lyceum Theatre

Indian restaurant Paro in central London has been receiving quite some attention from food bloggers and influencers since opening last year.

Lyceum Theatre on Wellington Street

But what attracted our attention wasn’t the attention of others, but the fact that not only is their a fancy venue in Covent Garden run by a Muslim chef, but one who’s only 24-years-old.

Located just off the Strand on Wellington Street, this West End venue is situated within the Lyceum Theatre; a building said to have been built on one of the oldest sites in the capital dating back to 1765.

The restaurant itself is a large and spacious one that’s defined by an elaborate sequence of colourfully-designed wall murals revolving around the Bengal tiger.

And though it does house an alcohol bar, this is situated entirely separately from the main dining room, which itself boasts plenty of hanging green foliage that contrasts beautifully against the dark, mahogany-coloured tables and upholstery.

It was obvious that Paro’s Executive Chef, Niaz Caan, meant business, with a menu that’s been inspired by the bazaars and streets of the city of Calcutta.

Paro is situated within the West End’s Lyceum Theatre

During the course of the interview (see video above), an articulate Niaz highlighted how Paro’s curries were defined by 48 Calcuttan-sourced spices which were described on its website as “a guarded secret”.

24-year-old chef & owner of Paro, Niaz Caan!

Having been brought up in a “family of restaurateurs”, Niaz’s culinary experience started at the early age of 13, before eventually helping to run the award-winning Indian restaurant City Spice in east London’s vibrant Brick Lane.

During that time, not only has he had the opportunity of showcasing his skills on national television, but also published his first cookbook Vegan – An Indian Cookbook last year.

With Paro already having attracted a number of well-known faces from the entertainment industry, Niaz has put together both a 2-course and 3-course ‘Pre-Theatre menu’.

Bengal No Gin Sling, £10.00; Chandramukhi, £8.00; Apple Tiny, £9.00

It was a close call between the zingy, sugar-rimmed Apple Tiny, and the well-balanced Bengal No Gin Sling. But it was the latter, on account of how this mellow, candy-flavoured concoction ended on a subtle sour note, which we preferred.

As for the Chandramukhi, then aside from the sweetness of the grenadine syrup, this was passable.

Lamb Samosa – Calcuttan filo pastry, Welsh grass-fed lamb mince, Paro’s 48 spice-mix, £5.95

An inhouse Lamb Samosa whose crispy-cum-crunchy exterior gave way to a delicately-grounded lamb mince filling, which was wonderfully fragrant without being very spicious, and was enhanced by the touch of zesty-sweetness from the accompanying sauce. Good start.

Cottage Cheese Roll – Stuffed pastry, sweet-spiced cottage cheese, spinach, £5.95

This Cottage Cheese Roll, on the other hand, while being just as satisfyingly crunchy, didn’t quite live up to the standard of its samosa counterpart.

While the cottage cheese filling was tender and creamy, the bulk of the flavour profile came from the aforesaid sauce.

Bang Bang Chicken – Grilled chicken cutlets, cream & plum sauce, £5.95

Despite appearances, the lightly-spiced, onion-based curry in this Bang Bang Chicken was a flavourous one that pleasantly contrasted against chunks of marinated, grilled chicken, which weren’t quite as tender as we’d have preferred.

Toddy Shop Tiger Prawns – Paro’s 48 spice-mix, plum tomato blend, Paro sauce, £9.95

These Toddy Shop Tiger Prawns were the pick of the starters, with plump pieces of gorgeously grilled crustaceans still retaining some good bite.

The star of the show was the caramelised onion base whose smoky-sweetness married superbly against the lightly spiced marination of the prawns. In fact, this was our dish of the review!

Lamb Shank – Slow-roasted lamb-leg shank, Paro’s 48 spice-mix, chilli flakes, charred-garlic, £21.95

Onions also featured in this Lamb Shank, with a leg of lamb shank that could have been “slow-roasted” for longer.

As such, although the textured onion curry was nicely spiced, the lamb itself didn’t quite fall apart in the manner in which we were expecting.

Paro Butter Chicken – Cream, plum tomatoes, emulsified butter, £15.95

This signature Paro Butter Chicken is Chef Niaz’s great-grandfather’s recipe, and one which was made Bengali-style rather than Calcuttan.

This might explain why the curry sauce, while certainly full-bodied and decent enough, was neither infused with the aroma of cardamom, nor delivered the buttery richness and distinct piquancy of tomato in some other versions we’ve had in the past. As for chicken pieces therein, then these erred on the chewy side.

Nani-Jaan Chicken – Tenga curry leaves, Paro’s 48 spice-mix, lemon, demerara sugar, mint, tamarind reduction, £14.95

The same shortcomings with the chicken in the above dish were true for this bowl of Nani-Jaan Chicken.

This was unfortunate, since the complexity of flavours in this curry turned out to be surprisingly good. What we had here was a sweet and sour affair with just enough heat to satisfy.

Spinach and Cheese– Salted spinach, cottage cheese, saffron butter, £4.95

This Spinach and Cheese side was a good one, with the subtly-spiced spinach delivering on that earthy taste, and the paneer turning out soft and delicate.

Bengali Daal – Lentil medley, tadka, £4.95

This watery-based Bengali Daal, which is said to have been “slow-cooked over 12 hours”, was deliciously good for two reviewers, with the remaining one not quite as convinced.

Naan (Garlic) – Nigella seeds, refined flour bread, £4.95

This garlic naan was perfectly made, being presented crispy and fluffy, with the garlic coming through gently.

Pilau Rice, £4.50

As for this pilau rice, then it was closer to plain rice than pilau. What’s more, the rice was a combination of broken and unbroken.