Travancore: Try south Indian food this Aberdeen Restaurant Week

Travancore is the home of South Indian food in Aberdeen. Or at least that’s what its website states.

My first trip there last Monday was to sample the Aberdeen Restaurant Week dinner menu it will be serving up for the next two weeks.

It also has a lunch and tasting menu option, but for the sake of this review, it was the three-course £25 dinner that I booked.

Inside the restaurant on Holburn Street. Image: Paul Glendell/DC Thomson

When my boyfriend and I visited, I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect to see another soul. I was pleasantly pleased to see quite a few tables on our arrival, especially for an early evening meal on a Monday.

Jinson Paul is the owner of the Holburn Street Indian restaurant. He’s worked across the world, seeing huge success feeding multiple celebrities in Dubai, the UK’s very own Hairy Bikers, and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

Only one member of the front of house team was working, but he was quick as anything and worked his way around all of the tables with ease.

The bar area of Travancore. Image: Paul Glendell/DC Thomson

The food

Deciding what to order was hard. There was five starters, four mains and four desserts to pick from, all of which sounded very intriguing.

We settled on the chilli paneer (spelled chill on the menu) and methu vedu (also known as medu veda), a south Indian breakfast snack made from vigna mungo and usually in the shape of a doughnut.

Its crispy exterior and soft interior made this savoury bake a delight.

The methu vedu – savoury doughnuts. Image: Julia Bryce/DC Thomson

There were three of them and they came with three different sauces. One coconut-based, one spicy chilli and the other a mild savoury one. My favourite was the spicy one, even if it did make my nose run a little.

As for the chilli paneer, it was gorgeous. The cheese was hot, but soft, and the thick sauce that it and the fried onions and peppers was doused in was finger-licking good. The kind of stuff you want to see bottled so you can take it home.

Chilli paneer was a hit. Image: Julia Bryce/DC Thomson

There was lots of coriander throughout the sauce which had a tangy, slight chilli spice, to it. A fresh salad with lettuce, red onion and peppers was served alongside it, but it didn’t receive the same love the paneer did.

For mains we’d taken, Sunja, the waiter’s recommendations: the lamb black pepper fry and the Malabar chicken curry.

We’d also chosen the coconut rice over the plain and got two kerala paratta breads in the deal to enjoy, too.

The lamb black pepper fry was delicious. Image: Julia Bryce/DC Thomson

The lamb was excellent. Strands of fresh ginger and small fragrant leaves featured throughout this dry curry – and when I say dry, I mean not drowned in a sauce. The meat ripped apart beautifully and we both loved the flavours.

The breads came in handy with the other curry which was a lot saucier. We used the layered Indian flatbread, which almost looked like a pancake, to mop up all of the buttery sauce.

Be sure to try the bread. Image: Julia Bryce/DC Thomson

Packed with flavour, the chicken curry also went well with the rice, which soaked it all up. The chicken itself was succulent and there was plenty of it hidden within the sauce.

The feast was in fact beginning to take its toll, with both my boyfriend and I struggling to finish it all off.

We knew we had dessert to come so retired the rest of the rice to save some space.

The two curries and sides. Image: Julia Bryce/DC Thomson

Although there were three options for dessert – semiya payasam and mango or pistachio kulfi – we were served both flavours of the kulfi to finish. I grabbed the pistachio as I’m really not a lover of mango.

My tower of Indian ice cream was utterly divine. It was refreshing and slightly creamy, meaning it wasn’t too heavy. I don’t think the sweet strawberry sauce added much, although it did bring another flavour into the mix. Underneath mine lay crushed pistachios, hidden by the bottom.

The mango one didn’t taste as good and had a fragrant flavour to it that was too floral for me.

The kulfi desserts. Pistachio on the left and mango on the right. Image: Julia Bryce/DC Thomson

The verdict

This hidden gem is not to be missed during Aberdeen Restaruant Week. Its menus are strong and showcase a flavour of what you can expect at the south Indian restaurant.

It has left me hungry to discover more of what Travancore has to offer, and I’m already planning a return visit for one of their popular dosas.

I’ve also realised that more meals should start with a savoury sweet, so be sure to get the methu vedu starter for something different.