Lunch at Khai Khai, Newcastle

Indian food + Josper grill 🔥

Khai Khai (29 Queen St, NE1 3UG) resides in the old home of Vujon on the Quayside and though its cuisine may come from a similar part of the world, it’s unrecognisable from the restaurant that lived there before. I was a big fan of the 30-year tenured Vujon, but christ, innovation was never really part of its remit. That’s not always a bad thing of course. But Khai Khai feels very much what a 2021 Vujon perhaps could/should have been.

If you didn’t know, it’s a spin-off/sister to now Newcastle mainstay Dabbawal. But where the OG is ‘Indian street food for casual dining with friends’, Khai Khai is more ‘Dishoom-inspired treat for date night’. Tastefully done inside, really a million miles away from the incumbent, Khai Khai goes for that Gymkhana-esque luxurious colonial Indian vibe. It’s clean and smart and quite likeable.

I was ready to very easily dismiss it as ‘just another Indian restaurant’ but Khai Khai took me quite by surprise ‘cos it’s really rather good.

There’s a lot on the menu to like, and a lot of it centres around the Josper grill which they’re using to paint their meat and veg with fire and flame. You should know by now I’m a sucker for a Josper, and so to combine/(replace?) a tandoor in Indian food is really, a bit of me. I love what it does to meat. It’s what you come to restaurants for, because you just can’t cook like that at home.

We’ve only visited the once during lunchtime last week, and while I usually like to give it a couple of visits and try a bit more of the menu, we were so impressed I had to buck the trend.

The lunch menu is £14 for 2c which is a relative bargain for the amount of food you get here. Of course you’re limited in choice — there’s a couple of supplements, but nothing to be mardy about. Our bill for two + four drinks was £55. Left very full, so you can’t sniff at that value.

Starters are where there’s a bit of value saved — chickpea chaat for example, and tandoori broccoli… or so I thought. THIS is how you elevate a humble vegetable to something fantastic. Honestly, I would have ordered another portion right away if the mains weren’t so belly busting. I said I love what a Josper does to meat, but here its effect on veg is even more profound.

A real eye-opener in terms of how to extract flavour from a humble ingredient. A few florets of broccoli marinated before grilling until just cooked. Meat-like texture and depth of flavour, and really just one of those dishes you have to order to try for yourself. Startling. And Vegan.

Murgh tikka is also way above par for this type of cooking — I thought I’d done this dish to death but here it’s done due justice, with a dirty big lick of smoke, and fat, visibility moist chicken nuggets. Heat that builds, not too salty, not dipped in E120 red. Just really great grilled chicken. I’m falling out of love with eating the bird after so many shite examples of it. This one however, was worth it.

If starters really got the blood pumping, mains were slightly more subdued but really very convincing nonetheless. Roganjosh is a fine example of the slow-cooked lamb dish, with strong flavour, and meaty bits softer than Sam Fender’s quiff.

Butter chicken is (in Newcastle — finally) becoming a dish du jour, and the version here captures that ‘just one more spoonful’ moreishness. It’s a little heavy on cardamom but smooth, rich and creamy, and has another chunky dose of that excellent grilled chicken.

For lunch, these dishes come with a featherweight barely-there naan bread, fluffy rice, and house daal which is a nice touch. It definitely has a whiff of Dishoom’s house black daal about it which is really a complement of the highest order because those are lentils done good.

Service was noticeably pleasant too, apart from a slight eagerness to clear the table. You get stung on drinks a little — £7.50 for Hickey the Rakes will add up. That said, especially in the last 2-3 months, everything has been expensive, everywhere. Tyne Bank Northern Porter is a fab shout for a curry with a whack of smoke, and Kate’s rose martini was delicately delicious too. Wine list, not so memorable.  

Somewhat guiltily, we hadn’t been to Vujon in a few years, and it sadly left us last year without a whimper. But if the test of a great restaurant experience these days is ‘how likely and how quickly are you to return’ then me making a repeat booking at Khai Khai for ASAP says it all 🔥