Year of Eating Differently (5): Imli, Wardour Street

If it wasn't for this project, I could probably eat for the next week at Imli. It describes itself as 'Indian tapas' which sounds terribly pretentious, and not very helpful. However, without wanting to denigrate any of the other Indian restaurants that I've eaten in, it just feels a lot cleaner experience-partly down to the presentation of the food, all on gleaming white plates, and partly the decor and the menus (almost wrote merchandising, which shows what a soul-less marketing drone I'm becoming) which are all bright orange and brighter white.
So the popadoms don't come plate sized, but pre-cracked into pieces about the size of your palm. The dips (which include a great peppery one) come in a white china tray, rather than the usual four round metal pots, and the lunch platter (which I ordered because I was feeling indecisive, rushed for time and had a woman sitting on the other side of the table that was more important to concentrate on than just idling through the menu for twenty minutes) was great - five different dishes in one, plus rice, and the stand-out at Imli, which is the hot lime sauce. (I'd say more about the individual dishes, but being somewhat distracted means I failed to keep notes - what a trial it must be for anyone ever reading this unreliable narrator approach to restaurant reviews...)
Wine was served in a highball glass, which I found a little odd. The thyme lemonade is disgusting (but don't let me stop you trying it) - stick to either booze or the fresh lime drink, if you want to be back at your desk and not slumping over your keyboard by mid-afternoon.