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South Indian restaurant tucked away on a side street off Rye Lane in [[Locale Peckham|Peckham]]. It also has [http://www.ganapatitakeaway.com/ a takeaway branch] on nearby Maxted Road. It's very small (seats maybe about 35?) and popular, so it's best to go early or book. Note that they're not open on Mondays; and on Saturdays they have 2 sittings for dinner: 7:15pm and 9:15pm. It's very much not a standard curryhouse; the menu changes every six weeks, they don't do "X meat in Y sauce" type dishes, and meals are served plated up rather than in serving bowls for people to share around. [[Kake]] and [[bob]] visited on a Tuesday evening in February 2008. We hadn't booked, but they managed to fit us in. It was a little after 7pm when we arrived, and there were already several other customers; an hour later the place was entirely full. We started with poppadoms and chutneys (£3.50) <small>[http://flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/2262609308/ photo]</small>. The chutneys were home-made and much nicer than the usual varicoloured slop you get in standard curryhouses; a fresh-tasting tomato puree, a pungent heap of slightly softened garlic slices in a spicy sauce, a smooth green puree with a chilli kick, and a tangle of shredded beetroot. (Note: some of their chutneys/pickles are available for purchase in jars.) Next, Bob tried the meat thali (a choice of chicken or lamb, both £13) and Kake the fish thali (also £13) <small>[http://flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/2261834323/ photo]</small>. Both were served in several small metal bowls with a heap of rice on top of a banana leaf, and it turned out that they were identical apart from one dish. We both got rasam (a thin, spicy soup), dhal, a wet vegetable curry, a dry mung bean curry, raita, and a couple of relishes. Bob had in addition a lamb curry which he seemed to rather like, while Kake had a tasty, smoky fish dish made with firm-fleshed fish in a thin spiced gravy. (A vegetarian thali is also available, at £12.) It was all pretty good; none of it stodgy or greasy. Nothing was mind-blowingly delicious, but it was a great, simple, no-nonsense meal. We finished with a plate of Indian sweets (£2.50) <small>[http://flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/2262630530/ photo]</small> for Bob, and a mint tea (£1.80) for Kake. Both were very tasty. We also got a piece of their chocolate, chilli, and cardamom cake to take home for [[doop]], who adds: the chocolate cake is <i>unbelievably</i> good. Perfectly moist without being too dense or soggy, there's enough chilli involved to give it a decent fire (although you can remove it if you prefer), and the cardamom balances it beautifully. I am beyond merely liking or disliking it, and in some advanced state of chocolate cake enlightenment. We accompanied our food with a bottle of Indian Zinfandel (£13), which was perfectly fine. (They also offer a number of beers from the Meantime brewery, which is based fairly nearby in [[Locale Greenwich|Greenwich]]). Poppadoms and chutneys, two thalis, a bottle of mineral water, a bottle of wine, a plate of Indian sweets, a piece of chocolate cake, and one mint tea came to £60 including a 10% tip (automatically added to the bill). [[Kake]] and [[Laura]] visited again in June 2009, in the company of [http://bellaphon.blogspot.com/2009/06/ganapati.html bellaphon] and [http://theenglishcaneat.blogspot.com/ MsMarmiteLover]. We went a la carte this time, and ordered various dishes to share; although the normal mode of operation here is for each person to get their own plated meal, they were happy to bring us extra plates and let us eat family-style. Indeed, the service was extremely friendly and accommodating throughout. For starters <small>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/bellaphon/3593489222/ photo]</small>, we shared masala dosa (thin, crisp pancake stuffed with seasoned mashed potato and served with chutneys and a thin curry known as sambar; £5.50), "vegetarian street snacks" (deep-fried potato balls and lentil cakes, £4.50), thaire vadai (another type of lentil cake, soaked in a yoghurt sauce, £4.25), and crab thoran (stirfried fresh crabmeat with curry leaves and other spices, £5.25). The masala dosa was quite substantial (this dish is normally a light meal in itself), and would possibly be too much as a starter for one, so a good thing we were sharing! Of the main courses, [[Kake]]'s favourite was perhaps the jeera chicken (£11), served as a whole chicken leg on the bone with plenty of flavour and not dry at all. Nagore lamb kurma (£10.75) was light-years away from the standard curryhouse rendition, with a rich, complex flavour and tender meat. Baypore squid curry (£10) was a bit of a let-down, though; the squid had a rather odd texture reminiscent of cooked egg white, and a very muted flavour. All main courses come with rice, and at [[Laura]]'s suggestion we asked for a couple of the rice portions to be substituted with curd rice, which only cost an extra 50p/portion and turned out to be a very good idea. [[Kake]]'s verdict: I would very happily come back, though this is partly influenced by the fact that the journey here is quite easy for me (P12 bus practically door to door). <div class="getting_here"><b>Getting here:</b> Holly Grove leads west off Rye Lane just to the north of [[Peckham Rye Station]]. The street looks unpromising to start with, being very residential-looking. Persist! Ganapati is about 200m further down, on the corner of Holly Grove and Bellenden Road.</div> See also: * [http://flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/sets/72157603899244570/detail/ Kake's photoset on Flickr] * [http://www.london-eating.co.uk/33572.htm London Eating comments] * [http://cheapeatsinlondon.co.uk/47/ganapati-peckham/ Cheap Eats In London review] * [http://d1970p.blogspot.com/2008/03/ganapati-38-holly-grove-peckham-london.html Layman's London review] * [http://www.southwarknews.co.uk/food-and-drink/00,news,9895,6490,00.htm Southwark News review] * [http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/food/article.html?Ganapati_is_a_little_southern_star&in_article_id=490551&in_page_id=26 Metro review] * [http://helengraves.co.uk/?p=824 Food Stories review] * [http://bellaphon.blogspot.com/2009/06/ganapati.html bellaphon's writeup of our visit] * [http://d1970p.blogspot.com/2009/06/ganapati-holly-grove-peckham-south.html Layman's London review] * [http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/jul/31/ganapati-london-se15-review Guardian review] * [http://www.grumblinggourmet.com/2011/09/ganapati-less-review-and-more-of-advert.html Grumbling Gourmet review] * [http://ilivetoeatandeattolive.blogspot.com/2011/11/south-indian-ganapati.html Live To Eat review] * [http://www.qype.co.uk/place/194986#PlaceReviews Qype comments] <div class="last_verified">Last visited by [[Kake]], [[Laura]], and friends, 2 June 2009. Opening hours taken from the Ganapati website, July 2010.</div>
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Peckham SE15
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Indian Food Restaurants South Indian Food Vegetarian Friendly
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