Buckhurst Hill, Indian, Southern Restaurant Guide

Das Sreedharan’s famous bright pink Stoke Newington Keralan has won a legion of fans over the decades – “it was the first veggie restaurant I ever went to about 30 years ago and I didn’t miss meat one bit”. Various spin-offs have opened and closed in that time, most recently Rasa Street across the road. No longer with the rarity value it once enjoyed, its ratings remain very respectable all-round. Top Menu Tip – “lovely masala dosa”.

“Shame it’s now so out-of-the-way, but well worth a visit” – after 26 years on the fringe of the City, Cyrus & Pervin Todiwala relocated their famous Indian venue to this new unit on the Royal Docks in 2022. It’s a “light and airy setting” (not far from London Excel and City Airport) with bright views over the water and docks. “Cyrus continues to evolve his dishes, for all occasions”, and “the Todiwalas are excellent hosts too”: “staff are so passionate and personal to all who come and dine” on the “wonderful Indian food with a Portuguese twist”.

An “amazing lunchtime buffet” and a good choice of “reliable vegetarian dishes” pull in a regular crowd at this “stalwart” of the ‘Little India’ enclave behind Euston station.

2023 Review: “Good scruffy fun with a side order of nostalgia” is to be had at this “hidden gem” in the Strand (a favourite with staff at the Indian High Commission opposite). “An almost anonymous doorway leads you up some stairs” where you “step back in time, not to a cheesy incarnation of the British Raj, but to the early days of independence”. Founded in 1951 (Prime Minister Nehru was among the founding members), the ‘club’ is open to the public and serves food that can be (but is not invariably) “excellent” at a “great price”, in an authentically “slightly chaotic atmosphere”. It’s been under siege for the past five years from a landlord itching to redevelop, but it’s “an institution that deserves to survive, and an oasis of good value in central London”. Top Tip – it’s unlicensed – “pause for a drink in the bar downstairs before or after eating” or carry your pint to the table.

“If you like dosas, idlis and uttapams”, these “cheap and cheerful” but “spotless and well-run” canteens in the West End (plus Hammersmith and Harrow) are “an excellent choice for very good South Indian vegetarian food” – they’re also “a top option to take a crowd because they’re not fazed by large tables”, and “even carnivores don’t complain” when they try the “tasty food”.

“If you like dosas, idlis and uttapams”, these “cheap and cheerful” but “spotless and well-run” canteens in the West End (plus Hammersmith and Harrow) are “an excellent choice for very good South Indian vegetarian food” – they’re also “a top option to take a crowd because they’re not fazed by large tables”, and “even carnivores don’t complain” when they try the “tasty food”.

It’s “always a pleasure to eat the tasty, well-spiced and reliably classy Keralan food” at this “very good value” veteran in a basement near the Telecom Tower. There’s “friendly service in the compact dining area”, although the interior is not going to win design awards any time soon. Top Menu Tips – “love the fritters!”; dosas here are a perennial favourite too.

In a plush hotel near Buckingham Palace, this “very classy” dining room “focuses on dishes from southern India’s coastal areas, especially seafood” (“they also go out of their way to feed vegans in style”), all delivered with a “subtle” touch. Running the kitchen since 1999, Sriram Aylur has earned the right to be regarded as one of the capital’s elite subcontinental chefs. A recurring gripe, though, concerns the uneventful decor and “stuffy atmosphere”.

After 20 years, Peckham pioneer Claire Fisher’s “refectory-style” venue “keeps on delivering wonderful South Indian food”, including “some cracking veg dishes, though it’s not all vegan by any means”. “We first went 16 years ago and it has remained consistent through all this time – the difference is that then it was a lone star in an area short of places to eat, now it’s one of many”. Top Menu Tip – “homemade paratha is a must”.

This “great local Indian” in Kilburn, now 60 years old, was a pioneer of Keralan cooking in the UK (and has fed celebs as diverse as Diana Ross and Harrison Ford over the years); and still serves “lovely dosas and appetisers” as well as “good vegetarian dishes”. The odd report says “the dining room is looking really tired”… but they’ve been saying that for decades now and most diners warm to its unaffected style.

“Super southern Indian dishes at reasonable prices too” win a following for this family run Keralan in Kilburn. It’s either “brilliant and low key” or “very good but with slightly disappointing surroundings” depending on your tastes.

Within glorious Somerset House, Dipna Anand (part of the family who founded the famous Brilliant Restaurant in Southall) took over this stately, traditional chamber last year, and mostly earned recommendations for its Indian cuisine. Not all reports were 100% positive, though, and in summer 2023 it underwent a temporary closure (with re-opening slated for early September 2023).