Kasi, a new contemporary Indian restaurant, is now open at Careys Manor Hotel & SenSpa in Brockenhurst. The restaurant is the vision of concept creators Anushka Gupta and Rohan Gupta, with chef and television personality Surjan Singh, known as Chef Jolly, as Culinary Director. Kasi marks Chef Jolly’s first UK restaurant project outside London.
Inspired by Varanasi, the menu follows the course of the Ganges, from the Himalayas through to Kolkata and the Bay of Bengal. It draws on the ingredients, dishes and cooking traditions of the communities along the river’s banks, and pairs them with produce from Hampshire and neighbouring counties, including local lamb and venison, Wessex pork, trout from the Rivers Test and Itchen and Isle of Wight vegetables.
Small plates, grills and tasting menus
Small plates include pot-roasted lamb parantha tacos filled with slow-cooked traditional Bengali ‘Kosha Mangsho’; Hampshire pork belly sliders in buttered pao buns with red chillies and Goan rechaedo masala; and Litti Chowkha: roasted wheat dumplings stuffed with a spiced Bengal gram mix and served with smoked aubergine mash.
Larger plates and sharers span biryanis, curries and tandoor grills. A whole tandoori poussin is smoked and served with Isle of Wight tomatoes, roasted butternut squash and saffron cream, while native red deer venison is made into a seekh kebab. Tandoori lamb chops arrive at the table on their own grill. Plant-based dishes include green jackfruit skewers with toasted hemp seed chutney and a Grand Trunk Dal Makhani, slow-cooked for 48 hours.
Two five-course tasting menus, Explore and Elevate, take diners through the regions of the Ganges. Desserts include a paan samosa with rose marmalade, dates and coconut ice-cream, alongside a classic gulab jamun with ‘malaiyo’, saffron cream parfait, honeycomb cinders and toasted almond crackers.
Drinks and interiors
The concise wine list features wines with simple, well-defined profiles chosen to complement the food. Cocktails and mocktails draw on the flavours of the sub-continent, among them the Eternal Flame with Timur-infused Belvedere vodka, saffron, Alphonso mango and orange blossom, and the non-alcoholic Forest Elixir with fresh kiwi, ginger, vanilla, apple and ginger beer.
The restaurant has 85 covers including a lounge bar, plus an outdoor terrace. Interiors by Amit Dixit Design use a warm colour palette inspired by the ghats, the stepped banks of the Ganges. Bobbled mouldings reference traditional Rudraksha prayer chains, a ceiling wallpaper depicts the flowing waters of the river, and terracotta, ceramics, brass and bronze metalwork and traditional textiles feature throughout, alongside a tapestry-style silk mural wallpaper of Indian palaces, forts and wildlife.
Open to non-residents
Kasi is a few minutes from Brockenhurst station, with direct trains from London Waterloo taking 90 minutes, and is open to non-residents as well as hotel guests. It joins Cambium, serving modern British cooking, and Zen Garden, serving Thai cuisine, among the dining options at the hotel, which has 77 individually styled bedrooms and suites.
Chef Jolly, who has over three decades of experience in the hospitality industry, has worked at properties including Rivaaj at The St Regis Doha and is behind The Great Indian in Finsbury Park. For more restaurant news, read how Amber Restaurant is marking its anniversary with whisky flights chosen by its own team.
Details and image via Kasi.
