Ex-River Café chef opens an Indian gastropub in Shepherd's Bush

Talli Queen has opened at 412 Uxbridge Road in Shepherd's Bush, on the site of what was the Queen Adelaide pub.

Avinash Shashidhara cooked at the River Café and was head chef at Pahli Hill. Talli Queen is his own project.

The menu is Indian food in a pub format rather than an Indian restaurant menu moved into a pub. Reported dishes include military canteen meatballs, pepper fry, Kerala chilli beef and dosa. Sunday roasts are on as well.

The pub-with-a-cuisine format has become one of the more reliable ways to open in London: the room, the licence and the local trade already exist, and only the kitchen changes.