Hold on to your halos – Paradise has had a glow up.
The excellent, Bib Gourmand winning Sri Lankan restaurant in Soho has had a refurb, a new dining concept, and a whole new menu to go with it. For anyone who hasn’t had the chance to go, yes, calling your restaurant Paradise is a punchy move. And for anyone who has had a chance to go, yes, if anywhere deserves it, it’s this place. There may not be choirs of angels or winged cherubs, but you will find a truly fantastic meal in a lovely space. And Paradise 2.0 has only taken things up a notch.
It’s still there on Rupert Street, but the new interior comes with a little more warmth than its former guise. Whereas before it was a bastion of hyper-minimalist brushed concrete & steel, with a few leather cushions fattening up the seating, now it’s got candles, dashes of greenery, and warm timber tones throughout. The once austere bar has been converted into a long, social table. The tropical brutalism has had a little more sunshine added.
The dining concept is now basically a six-course set menu at dinner time, and an a la carte at lunch. That set menu is “a labour of love” from founder Dom Fernando, who drew largely from his Sri Lankan heritage to construct it alongside head chef Alfie Bahnan. And there’s a certain skill to communicating the nostalgia of dishes to diners who’ve likely never had them before, and still making them feel comforting – but these guys have it.
This lamb was honestly amazing
There are both meat or veggie options for the menus, and some of the standouts include mas rolls that have steak/mushroom tartare with smoked charcoal oil clasped in an impossibly crisp, satisfyingly brittle pastry cylinder; some tender slices of lamb saddle sealed on a bed of black garlic curry, and sided by a cloud-like fluffy buttermilk roti and some turmeric + saffron dahl to mop up; and a house-made alphonso mango mini-magnum with a white chocolate shell made thicker, creamier, and more pleasing to crack into that the real thing.
There’s a wine pairing if you fancy it (and it’s extremely well-chosen, by a former Pidgin house somm), as well as the cocktails that Paradise has been doing so well over the past couple of years – the mango negroni has just enough tropical fruit to add a sweet counterweight to the bitter herbs.
A couple of those? And you really will be on cloud nine.
NOTE: Paradise is open for lunch and dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. You can find out more at their website right HERE.
Paradise | 61 Rupert Street, Soho, London W1D 7PW
Like great Soho restaurants? Follow them up with some great Soho bars