Randomness Guide to London - Differences between Version 7 and Version 2 of Shahanshah, UB1 2JL
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| Indian vegetarian cafe and takeaway in [[Locale Southall|Southall]]. It used to have another branch on South Road, opposite the [[Himalaya Palace Cinema]], but that one (like the cinema) has now closed. |
Small vegetarian cafe and takeaway in [[Locale Southall|Southall]]. |
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It's brightly lit inside, with basic canteen-style decor. Seating is provided for 24 people at small square tables, some of which are usually pulled together to create a couple of communal tables. Jugs of tap water sit on each table, with plastic cups and napkins stacked up on the serving counter. |
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. |
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All food is ordered from the counter, even if you're eating in, though they will bring it to you when it's ready — and once you've eaten, you need to queue up again to pay. |
As of December 2008, the menu <small>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/su-lin/3071750291/ photo]</small> 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. |
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The menu <small>[https://www.flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/16575777846/ photo as of Feb 2015]</small> includes Indian sweets (priced per kilo), savoury snacks, and drinks, plus around a dozen main dishes and eight types of bread. Prices are very cheap, with savoury snacks starting at 40p for a takeaway vegetable samosa (as of Feb 2015). |
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. |
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[[Kake]] first visited in December 2008, for some takeaway vegetable samosas and paneer samosas. 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. 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 sauce which improved them even further. 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. |
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[[Kake]] visited again in February 2015, this time for eat-in. I arrived a little after noon, and had to queue up to order. There was a steady stream of customers while I was there, with never fewer than three people waiting. Service was friendly and welcoming; it was also somewhat leisurely, which partly explained the queue. Indian music was playing on the radio, interspersed with adverts for Asian businesses in various parts of London. A vegetable samosa (40p) <small>[https://www.flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/16414545528/ photo]</small> was just as good as last time, arriving hot and freshly fried with a generous portion of tamarind sauce. I also had a main dish of palak paneer (£3.50) and some rice (£2), which arrived with a small tub of carrot pickles <small>[https://www.flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/15979583324/ photo of all three]</small>. The palak paneer had well-balanced spicing and plenty of well-fried paneer. The rice was cooked rather softer than I prefer, and included unsolicited peas, but was enlivened with cumin seeds and fresh coriander. Accessibility: A step to get in. No further steps once you're in, but access to the toilet (a single unisex cubicle) is quite narrow and involves a 90-degree turn. |
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* [http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/shahanshah-restaurant-southall Yelp comments] * [http://web.archive.org/web/20111216180742/http://www.veggieplaces.co.uk/list_reviews.php?place_id=327 Veggie Places comments] |
* [http://www.qype.co.uk/place/88529 Qype comments] * [http://www.veggieplaces.co.uk/list_reviews.php?place_id=327 Veggie Places comments] |
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<div class="last_verified">Last visited by [[Kake]], February 2015.</div> |
<div class="last_verified">Last visited by [[Kake]] and [[Ewan]] (separately), 11 December 2008.</div> |
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category='Cafes,Cheap Food,Featured Article,Indian Food,Takeaway,Totally Vegetarian,Vegetarian Friendly' |
category='Cafes,Cheap Food,Indian Food,Takeaway,Totally Vegetarian,Vegetarian Friendly' |
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host='2a00:1098:86:4d:c0ff:ee:15:900d' |
host='81.187.166.218' |
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latitude='51.513022' |
latitude='51.512515' |
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longitude='-0.371968' |
longitude='-0.370411' |
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node_image='https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7292/15979591304_ace66d6f0e_m_d.jpg' |
node_image='https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3030/3103512909_359b1870ca_m.jpg' |
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node_image_url='https://www.flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/15979591304/' |
node_image_url='https://www.flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/3103512909/' |
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.
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