LIMIN: London’s Alpine Lodge with a Caribbean Twist…
When the invite came through to dine in a winter lodge with a Caribbean twist, we couldn’t quite envisage what we were heading for. Would we be drinking cocktails in a cosy chalet? Munching on jerk, rice and peas at an apres-ski party?
Well it turned out to be a bit of all that and more!
Set just back from the river Thames in Gabriel’s Wharf on the Southbank, LIMIN is in a great location for dinner after a river wander around the nearby tourist spots. The colourful fairy lights welcome you in, and the décor as promised gives Alpine vibes, with snow covered trees, photos of mountain views, and cosy blankets. The crowd was a mix of after-work drinkers, families feasting together, and intimate dates, and the well spread-out tables allowed all to co-exist happily.
The ethos is very much about sharing food with friends, so we got stuck into a selection of vegan-friendly starters – puri shells filled with mashed potato, cumin, coriander and onions; spinach and sweetcorn fritters with a tamarind sauce; the famed Trini doubles – curried chickpeas on flatbread with apple chutney, cucumber and scotch bonnet mango jam. Each dish priced around the £12/13 mark and incredibly tasty – we would have been happy dining here for this course alone!
My omni plus one also tried the marinated chicken wings, describing them as juicy, and tender, before getting stuck into goat (£24) for his main while I opted for the Grande Curry Vegetable (£17). Both were cooked in a similar sauce, based around LIMIN’s own flavoursome curry mix, and served with fluffy cardamom rice.
We realised afterwards we had veered towards the more Caribbean style dishes, but Trinidadian-born chef and owner, Sham Mahabi has also mixed up the menu with the likes of fondue, raclette and croque monsieurs, taking you well and truly onto the mountain tops of France and Switzerland if that is your preference.
We really didn’t have room left for dessert, but to get the full picture, our overloaded-selves took the hit…. The right decision! The chocolate torte – not listed on the menu, but one of two vegan desserts available – was really chocolatey and smooth, while the plus one was very happy with his creamy cheesecake.
It was all washed down with a bottle of homemade rum punch, full of fruity flavours from lime to passion fruit. Not cheap at £55 a bottle, but as it says on the label: “Life is like a cocktail: a mix of bitter, sweet and sour. It is up to us to find the perfect balance” and whoever came up with this punch, did exactly that.
The winter lodge feel is an October addition to LIMIN Southbank, which began life as a stall in Spitalfields Market in 2018 before growing to fill this restaurant spot. The décor was apparently more ‘beach club’ before, and part of me might have preferred to step into that – an escape from the inevitable cold and wet of these next few months in the UK. Equally it was clear the creativity and imagination this original combination allowed the chef to put into the menu. Be interesting to see where LIMIN goes next – we will be back to find out!
- LIMIN Southbank is at Gabriel’s Wharf, 56 Upper Ground, London SE1 9PP www.limin.co.uk
