Afro-Asian food comes in Haandi

It's a brave initiative to expand an empire based on successful establishments in Nairobi and Kampala by adding the long, narrow space which, in a bygone age, was a Sloaney haven known as The Loose Box. The d?cor is curry-house smart. It is as light and bright as an almost-basement can be, and you can see into the kitchen through a curved glass wall.

The chefs have been brought in from the East African end of the business and that shows in the food. The curries are incredibly rich and got that way by being reduced gradually, rather than thickened with powdered nuts, and by concentrating natural flavours rather than adding dollops of this and that.

I'd recommend starting with some kebabs. Machli mahasagar (£8.50) is a dual-purpose dish - it makes a grand, if pricey, starter or a sensible main course. This is a fish kebab - large chunks of white fish, marinated and then cooked in the tandoor. The tandoor man knows his job: every mouthful has a light overshirt of spices and is still moist in the middle. The murg malai tikka (£8.80) is also very good, accurately cooked, and with a strong flavour of fresh coriander running through the meat. Another star turn from the tandoor is the Kashmiri kabarga (£8.80) - very good lamb chops, implausibly tender and richly spiced, with plenty of good, crispy bits to gnaw on.

Or perhaps the pather ke kebab (£8.90) appeals - thin slices of Scottish lamb (although how you would ever tell their provenance under the belt of spice is a mystery) are marinated in ginger, garlic, chilles, and garam masala. The curries are also very satisfying. Try the lasoni prawns masala (£10.80) - good-sized prawns, that are cooked 'firm' and retain some bite, inhabit a very rich, strongly flavoured masala, so reduced as to be almost dry. Or how about the gosht-ki-haandi (£8.10)? This is a trad lamb curry, chilli hot but with the flavours of cumin and a hint of coconut coming through. The dish also has a welcome touch of sourness to it - hot and sour is such a delightful combination.

The vegetable dishes are equally good. Dum aloo Kandahari (£4.10) is made with potatoes that have been stuffed with dried fruit before being curried in a rich, tomatoey sauce containing apricots; it sounds implausible but is, in fact, delicious. The breads are excellent, a wide range of naans and good, plain rotis. Service is smiley.

Haandi may be a much more expensive proposition than almost all of London's other East African Asian restaurants, but in a Knightsbridge setting such price tags seem less rapacious and, at Haandi, the food is very good.

Haandi
Cheval Place, London, SW7 1EW