I was feeling in desperate need of reviving lunch, today, as I’d started the week feeling rather rundown, following a magnificently entertaining, but physically draining weekend.

Exterior

After a quick glance through restaurant names, I settled upon Zest as the main thing that I was lacking, so it was to the Indian restaurant of that name that I decided to head.

With seating for around thirty, in their premises just off St Andrew Square, I was pleased to see that they offered a reasonably priced business lunch menu. From that, I chose vegetable samosas to start, then followed with the muglai chana gosht.

Samosas

The service was quick, unfussy and accurate. The folks seemed very confident in what they were doing, so went about their business with the minimum of superfluous interaction with the customer.

My starter arrived and looked neat, if a little uninspiring. The samosas proved to be excellently crisp, with a warmly spiced filling. I was very pleased with them.

Chana gosht

The main course, too, was delicious. The lamb was as tender and moist as you could want it to be, the chickpeas plentiful, and the sauce brought things together very nicely. The naan wasn’t the greatest, but it did its required job of mopping things up more than adeptly.

Having been served two very good courses, I was left to ponder why I wasn’t quite beaming from ear to ear. I think the issue was partly to do with the name of the restaurant. Zest implies freshness, vigour and vitality, and although the food was very good, the place quite smart, and the service quick, I don’t think any of it embodied the expected zest.

So overall, I enjoyed the food in Zest very much. For £7.95, this was a well-executed and filling lunch. Even the filter coffee to round things off was pretty decent. The whole place could use a big squeeze of the zesty goodness that the name of the place implies, though, as it’s slightly in the “solid and reliable” mould, at the moment, rather than offering something bold and fresh.

Scores
Blythe scores Zest
4/5 for food
3/5 for presentation
3.5/5 for setting
3/5 for service
giving an overall 13.5/20

Today’s quester was: Blythe

I ate: vegetable samosa; muglai chana gosht

I drank: water, coffee

I wore: navy and lilac

Total bill: £7.95