The Pink Tree's decadent Desi cuisine and vibrant splendour leave a flavourful, lasting memory
“It’s blooming marvellous”
Situated at the top of London Road, adjacent to St Mary’s Gate, this culinary destination and tabagie has been serving up a variety of dishes rich in South Asian inspiration since 2024.
I went down to sample some of the food on offer here and came away pleasantly satisfied
On first impressions, The Pink Tree is a contemporary and rather neat looking venue, particularly on the outside where it is adorned with artificial shrubbery as a means of separating the exterior from the hubbub of everyday traffic making its way up St Mary’s Gate and into London Road.
It’s when the doors open and you take a step inside that you can really appreciate this unassuming destination. It really is a stunning location, a dizzying array of flowers and an explosion of colour greets patrons.
The decor is beautiful, visually arresting and the pink tree from which this place takes its name stretches and permeates throughout from the centre of the room. If first impressions mean a lot to you then this will be a feast for the eyes.
I’d made my way down to try out some food just after midday, I had hoped to have missed much of the lunchtime crowd, despite the protesting grumbles emanating from my stomach.
Naturally when you enter an establishment you would wait to be seated, which I did but it took a good minute or two before I was seated in the middle of the room and given a menu.
It was a good 5-10 minutes before my order was taken, which could have been a frustration in some cases but this gave me ample time to look through the menu and decide what I should eat.
After browsing the Breakfast & Brunch then the Omelette sections, while also internally castigating myself for even considering a milkshake, I opted to go for the Desi Breakfast and a cup of peppermint tea. More waiting ensued before my order was taken.
Thankfully the kitchen team operates on a completely different level of efficiency, so just a short while later my food arrived and with it a flavoursome bombardment.
On the metal tray in front of me was a plate of fresh homemade paratha, which if you’ve never had it before is a type of mildly sweet Indian flatbread and can sometimes come stuffed with spiced mashed potatoes inside. A staple in South Asia, and while it’s not my first time eating these, you can totally understand why.
Next to the paratha there were four little metal bowls alongside a flower-styled ramekin with The Pink Tree’s very own in-house pickle, which was tart, tangy, terrific.
Each bowl featured a different element, the first an Aloo Channa, which translates to cooked vegetables, was a curried mixture of boiled chickpeas, potatoes, onions, tomato, cumin and garam masala. The texture was wonderful and the aromatic flavours immediately hit in a good way.
Next up there was the Halwa, taken from hulw meaning sweet. Often made with semolina almonds, sugar, butter, cardamom and sultanas. It is well-balanced, not too sweet but not too savoury. Some may prefer it to be sweeter, but when eaten with the excellent homemade paratha it works rather well.
The Boonda raita is a very different type of raita than what I have tried before, that’s not a bad thing. I am (perhaps wrongly) assuming that this comes with some masala as it has a bit of a kick, and really complements the Aloo channa.
Finally, I tried the egg burji aka Indian spiced scrambled eggs, which were really nice. At first I thought this wouldn’t be nearly enough for me, I drastically underestimated how filling it would be.
Rich in flavours, wonderful textures, just the right amount of sweet, savoury and spice. This was my first ever Desi breakfast, would I have it again? Absolutely. The peppermint tea was also decently refreshing, a tea bag not tea leaves for the connoisseurs out there, it did the job.
All together it cost me £14.40 for the breakfast and the tea, not cheap. But in this case, you’re being transported into a realm of flavours from other lands, so it’s fine – consider it a worthy treat.
The Pink Tree is a rather fantastic and delicious dining experience, each dish I saw the staff bring out looked absolutely stunning and gave me more reasons to want to return. Perfectly presented and without a single visual error apparent. This is one of those places that can blend in amongst everything else on its exterior but it’s when you’re inside that the South Asian elements truly come alive.
I’d never tried South Asian cuisine for breakfast before so this was a totally new experience for me. The Desi Breakfast is described as a ‘light and delightful taste of South Asian, a good kickstart to your day’. They’re not lying.
It’s beautiful, bold, delicious, the staff could be a little more attentive at times. But that’s a slight misgiving.
In short, The Pink Tree is blooming marvellous.
The Pink Tree can be found at 5 London Road, St Mary's House, Sheffield, S2 4LA.
Contact for bookings and enquiries: 0114 312 4150
Find out more here: https://thepinktree.co.uk/
Follow The Pink Tree on social: https://www.instagram.com/itsthepinktree