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Review: Tasting our way through the coasts of India at Trishna, London
By Shivani Dubey | 20 August 2025 | Food & Drink
Tempus visits Trishna for a coastal feast around India’s Western Ghats, bringing a taste of one of the most biodiverse places in the world all the way to London
The thing about Indian cuisine is that it varies depending on where you go. And it doesn’t just fluctuate from state to state, every city, village and town has its own spin on their local delicacies. One such spice-rich landscape of India is its Western Ghats, which brings out some of the most incredible coastal and seafood-rich cuisine the country has to offer. But you don’t have to travel far to get a taste of this magic, as Trishna, the Michelin-starred Indian restaurant in Marylebone has a special ‘Taste of Western Ghats’ menu that has brought those coastal flavours of India right to the heart of London.
The Western Ghats are older than the Himalayas. Running through the southwestern coastal states of India from Gujarat to Kerala, they are one of the most biodiverse places in the world. And with Trishna being one of the oldest Indian culinary institutions of London, it seems only fitting that the restaurant curated a special seafood rich menu to spotlight this side of India’s cuisine.
Our meal at Trishna started with an assortment of papads and chutneys, which served as great snacks to the accompanying specialty cocktails. I opted to try the Shimoga Gimlet, which is made with gin, cocchi rosa, guava and fennel, but as soon as I took a sip of my friend’s refreshing Kulukki Mule, I knew that was the winner. This gin mule was inspired by the famous roadside sharbat’s in Kerala, and evoked a nostalgia for tastes I had completely forgotten about. The garam masala added the right amount of flavour and kick, setting up a zingy start to our culinary adventure.
For our first coast, we started in southern India. We sampled some koliwada squid and shrimp with chilli and peanut chutney and the malabar quail cutlet with injipuli (a sweet-sour and spicy paste/sauce popular in Kerala) and potatoes. Immediately, I was transported back to the times I visited Kerala as a child with my family. The flavours were bold, authentic and absolutely delicious. The sauce was tangy and had a bite to it which I thoroughly enjoyed, and it was the perfect way to kick-start this odyssey around the western coast of India.
Still staying in the Southernmost half of the country, we then moved on to the chicken chop ghee roast – which was my favourite dish of the entire meal. Pepper features prominently in this dish, with a mixed sprouts salad and a green coconut chutney on the side and a chicken that is completely doused in a bydagi chilli (grown in the flat plains of Karnataka in the Western Ghats) sauce. Deliciously spicy, the flavours truly hit home for me. My friend tried the curry leaf coconut salmon with dill chutney, smoked raw papaya and samphire, which was also, based on his reaction, absolutely delicious.
Then came the mains in the form of a Goan prawn biryani with a side of pink peppercorn raita, and the beef short rib coconut fry with picked shallots, uttapam and a coconut and chilli chutney. The menu often draws from the Ghats’ culinary history, with the beef short rib serving as a nod to the Syrian Christian community – one of the few beef-eating groups in India. All of this was served with a muringa parippu curry (a spicy curry that is very popular in South India), dal, chettinad potato roast, and a bread basket.
The biryani, as one can expect from any region in India, was truly amazing. In my many Indian meals over the years – both in India and the UK – I had never really had a Goan prawn biryani before, so this was a new and welcome experience. The dal was nostalgic and comforting, and took me back to the daily family meals we partook in back in India – something we still do when we’re all together. Dal, or lentil soup, is the ultimate comfort dish for me, so it was warming to find a slice of home in this meal. 
Finally, the dessert. Since it is the height of summer, it is impossible to not have mango featured as the star ingredient of any Indian dessert. The alphonso mango malai was exactly what I had hoped it would be. Combining two of my favourite things, this dessert was just the perfect end to an incredible meal. My friend tried the ada pradhaman, which is a traditional Keralite dessert, which he said was truly incredible. He had never really tried South Indian food before, so for him, this whole experience was a delicious first.
Every dish that we tried at Trishna completely blew us away. Everything was responsibly sourced, making sure the restaurant never compromised on sustainability. You can tell just how much care was put into every dish to make sure every ingredient was authentic and had its moment. From spotlighting the region’s agricultural diversity and culinary history to the star ingredients and its indigenous communities, through these four courses, the restaurant highlighted the cultural heritage of the Western Ghats. I will certainly be returning for a taste of the homely nostalgia every chance I get.