Rani Vegetarian, N3 2PR
- 020 8349 4386
- 7 Long Lane, N3 2PR (streetmap) (osm) (gmap) (bingmap) (streetview)
- rani.uk.com
Completely vegetarian Gujarati restaurant in Finchley, in the 2007 Good Curry Guide.
Kake, Ewan, ilmari, and friend visited on a Tuesday evening in March 2009. We hadn't booked, but there was no problem finding us a table.
According to the Rani website, they offer an all-you-can-eat buffet Monday-Saturday evenings and Sunday lunchtime, as well as a normal a la carte menu; we saw what looked like buffet containers in a side room, but it wasn't clear whether there was actually food in them, and we didn't see anyone going in there. The menu also offers a number of set meals for two, three, or four people, but we decided to order a la carte and share the dishes between the four of us.
We started with bhel poori (crispy crunchy things mixed with potato, onion, and tamarind sauce, £4.20) and kachori (a sort of battered deep-fried lentil/pea ball, £3.90). The bhel poori was good, and a decent-sized portion, but Kake was a little disappointed by the kachori; although there was nothing really wrong with them, they just weren't very interesting, though the tamarind sauce they were served with did perk them up a bit.
For mains, we had masala dosa (potato-stuffed pancake served with vegetable curry and coconut chutney, £8.50), chola (black bean curry, £5.10), undhia (baby aubergines with cauliflower, peas, and vegetable kofte, £6.50), and akhaa ringal (more baby aubergines, this time cooked whole with a peanut stuffing, £6) photo. This was all very pleasant, as was the plain rice (£2.70), pilau rice (£3.90), methi thapla (unleavened bread with fenugreek, £2.70), and potato paratha (£3) that we ordered on the side. Nothing was overly heavy or greasy, though we all felt quite satisfied by the end of the meal even without quite managing to finish everything.
There was no problem bringing us a jug of tap water (though we did have to ask for glasses to pour it into!), and the house red wine (£9.70) was fine.
With a couple of other drinks too, we paid a total of £75 for the four of us including the auto-added service charge.
According to their website, they have a number of vegan dishes which are clearly indicated on the menu; we failed to check whether this was the case, however. They also offer takeaway and delivery.
Kake's verdict: Would happily come back if I was in the area; would even make a bit of a journey as I'd like to try some of the other things on the menu.
See also: