Randomness Guide to London - Differences between Version 2 and Version 1 of Shahanshah, UB1 2JL

Small vegetarian cafe and takeaway in Southall.

The decor is fairly basic, and there's only seating for about 20 people. The Tamarind And Thyme review linked below implies that even if you're eating in you need to queue up to order your food rather than having an order taken at your table.

As of December 2008, the menu photo includes about a dozen main dishes priced between £2.50 and £3.50, with rice at £2 and naan at 70p. Sweet or salty lassi are £1.50 and mango lassi is £2. They also offer an impressive range of Indian sweets, priced per kilo.

Perhaps the most talked-about item on the menu, though, is the samosas, which are priced at 35p for a vegetable samosa and 55p for a paneer samosa. Kake (and Ewan) tried these out in December 2008. Both varieties had very good pastry; crisp without being either dry or greasy, substantial without being stodgy, and much much nicer than the filo-a-like stuff that some places try to get away with. (Oddly, though, one of the five that Kake tried had much doughier pastry than the other four; not sure why, perhaps a frying issue.) The vegetable filling consisted of mashed potato studded with a few peas, rather than chopped potato; this worked well, and the spicing was good. The paneer filling was crumbled finely rather than chopped, and spiced subtly enough that although the first bite seemed a little bland, the cumulative effect was of a good level of flavour. The samosas came with a very good, tangy tamarind dip which improved them even further (be careful if getting them to take away; the lid on the dip isn't entirely watertight). They were best eaten straight away, but still nice the next morning.

Shahanshah used to have another branch on South Road, opposite the Himalaya Palace Cinema, but it's no longer there.

See also:

• Tamarind And Thyme review
• Qype comments
• Veggie Places comments
• We Love Local comments

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