Richmond, like most local areas these days, is well off for restaurants. Kew Road, outside the main shopping centre, is particularly attractive for foodies, but one quite outstanding place here is Origin Asia which, for the past six years, has been serving Indian cuisine par excellence.

The Venue
The restaurant is laid out on different levels, with four tiers ranged at an angle in a modern design of bold, stripey walls that belies the more traditional look of an Indian restaurant. From the top level you can view the kitchen and watch the staff preparing the breads. The mezzanine level is ideal for party bookings as it is completely separate from the rest of the room. In total it seats ninety covers, is very comfortable, light and airy and with a definite and serious attention to detail.

The Atmosphere
The ambience is helped by the division of the restaurant into different areas. You can be part of a large group, or a couple, or just individual diners and still feel completely relaxed. The unusual layout and the general brightness of everything plus the luxurious look of good linen, stylish cutlery, tableware and glassware all add up to a civilised dining experience. The staff are friendly without being over-attentive. Origin Asia have simply got it just right.

The Food
And the food is something else again. We tend to think of Indian cuisine as being fairly self-defining and at many places it can be just so much of a muchness. Origin Asia, however, has raised the stakes to a new level of accomplishment. It does not fall back on the usual dishes you can find at any Indian restaurant but has a menu that makes you stop and think again about ingredients, tastes and flavours.

From the lunch menu, the starters of Anarkali papri chaat comes highly recommended. Made up of lentil dumplings on crispy biscuits with fresh chutneys, yoghurt and pomegranate: a dish of terrific flavours. The Lehsoni whitebait, a poppadom basket of the tiny fish marinated in crushed garlic and caraway seeds and then fried in a light batter, is a really quite unexpectedly good appetiser. To follow, the Zafrani tikka has pieces of chicken marinated overnight in yoghurt, ginger, garlic, herbs and saffron, cooked in the tandoor oven and served with fresh avocado chutney: magnificently bursting with exciting flavours. Eraichi Varathada is chargrilled lamb piccata tossed with tomatoes and onions and spiced with black pepper and whole red chillies, another taste sensation although, despite the chillies, not overly hot.

The range of desserts includes Tandoori fruit kebab, Kulfi (ice cream), Phirni (rice and milk pudding), Elado frito (fried ice cream), Gulab jamun (sweet dumplings) and ice creams, offering a refreshing close to a great meal. The lunch, served in great style on square plates with rice and nan bread, costs just £6.50 for two courses which must be the best value around, because most places charge more than that just for a starter!

The Drink
House wine is £9.90 a bottle or £2.90 a glass for a French red or white, and a further selection is priced from £12 a bottle in a very well-stocked bar. Indian and other beers are available and you can have the Indian lassi yoghurt drink either sweet or salted or in mango flavour.

The Last Word
The excellence, variety and imagination that goes into the cuisine at Origin Asia is really quite surprising. You can have a really good meal here for less than £25 a la carte, but the lunch at £6.50 is such a treat that for this alone, but also for everything else as well, Origin Asia truly deserves its five stars.

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