For many years a wine bar which served (English) food, this establishment was changed into a restaurant serving unusual Indian - mainly Keralan - dishes in 1998. I understand business mushroomed as a result.

The place itself it nicely atmospheric. At first sight it looks quite small but it goes back into a second room while upstairs there are further seats. The wooden floors and stairs have a well worn but attractive look and various Indian artefacts decorate the walls A large wind chime is at the foot of the stairs which is used to alert the upstairs waiting staff of a new arrival. Reasonably comfortable but tables quite small and close together. Also, the Good Curry Guide indicates that they have a smoking and non smoking section but when I telephoned to book a table I was told quite firmly that they do not have a non smoking section. (Also, although I took the precaution of booking it’s not necessary. No details were taken over the phone - the person answering sounded as if he wasn’t the slightest bit interested and just going through the motions - and nobody seemed to be asked if they had booked when they arrived).

The menu is most interesting. A good variety of unusual starters and the main dishes, while more limited, are again different to anything found on a high street curry house menu. I started with a Mini Masala Dosa which although obviously smaller than the standard version was nevertheless ideal as a starter with a very tasty mildly spiced potato filling and served with a nice but small portion of coconut chutney. My friend chose the Cashew Nut Pakoda - cashew nuts fried in a slightly spicy coating and served with an unusual date chutney, again rather a small portion. This was also very good but a word of advice. These should be eaten by hand as if you try spearing them with a fork (not that you probably would) they will fly all over the restaurant.

For a main dish I had Erachi Olathiathu - a flavoursome dish of pieces of lamb fried with herbs and thin slices of coconut. This was delicious but a totally dry dish. The other main dish was Kozhy Biryani which basically was a Chicken Biryani served rather like a sandcastle of rice with the chicken inside. This was quite tasty but I’ve had better if not so imaginatively served. The accompanying Vegetable Curry for the Biryani was minute and rather bland while our other dish - Sambar - had a few strange looking bits of vegetable in it, and a couple of wicked looking but fairly mild tasting large red chillis. (On reflection this could have been the vegetable curry with the Sambar being minute, in which case at £3.25 for the Sambar it wasn’t worth it!)

Service efficient and a nice meal, subtly but not strongly spiced which made a pleasant change from standard Indian fare. However, it might not suit some curryholics who like their curries as served by their favourite high street curry house, particularly as the portions are a bit on the small side compared with most high street curry houses. In particular the accompanying dishes were fairly modest and lacking in substance. However this should perhaps be expected as the prices are very reasonable considering it is just a stone’s thrown from Oxford Circus although the beer was not cheap at £4.50 for a bottle of Cobra.

A good place to take someone for a pleasant reasonable and different meal in London but not the place for a curry trencherman.

Malcolm Wilkins - October 2001