Randomness Guide to London Menu

South Indian cafe in Barking, part of a small chain which also includes two branches called "Madras", one in Lewisham and one in Manor Park. They also do a few Sri Lankan dishes, and they also offer takeaway. According to the menu as of June 2009, they only serve halal meat.

The decor is firmly cafe-style, with floor-to-ceiling windows at the front to let in plenty of light. Peach-coloured walls are set off by orange accents from the chairs and windowframes, and the dark grey tiles on the floor are matched by the dark grey tables. Metal water jugs and cups sit on each table, along with laminated menus and yellow plastic dispensers filled with paper napkins.

Kake visited on a Monday early evening in June 2009. There were only a couple of other customers in.

I had the non-veg thali (£7) photo, which included rice, chapathi, poppadom, soup, rasam, chickpeas, potatoes, dal, chicken 65, green chutney, yoghurt, a choice of chicken or mutton curry, and gulab jamun.

The waiter assumed I'd want the mild versions of everything, and seemed reluctant to do medium (which I asked for because that's what I'd had in the Lewisham branch). I said spicy would be just fine; I think this is probably what I got in the end.

It was all fine except for the poppadom, which was stale, and the chicken 65, which was a bit dry and a bit too salty for my taste. The chapathi was freshly-cooked, and went well with the rich, slightly sweet mutton curry. The chickpea curry had a good rich flavour and plenty of chilli heat. The potatoes were cooked quite dry, and enlivened with caramelised onions and fresh ginger. The tomato soup was very well-flavoured. I enjoyed the dal too.

Accessibility: One step up to get in. Didn't check the toilets.

See also:

• Qype comments
• Veggie Places comments