Randomness Guide to London Menu

Indo-Chinese restaurant opposite Wimbledon Park Station, offering Indian versions of Chinese food (sometimes known as "Hakka" cuisine, though this is something of a misnomer).

It seats around 45 at tables covered with white linen tablecloths and set with wine glasses, side plates, and wooden holders of chopsticks and cutlery. The walls are painted a soothing grey, the floor is varnished boards, and chairs are dark wood with tied-on red cushions. Around a third of the seating is on a dais, separated off by wooden railings. One interesting touch is the dado rail made from halved wine corks.

Kake and bob visited on a Tuesday lunchtime in October 2018. There were five other customers when we arrived a little before 1pm, and another seven arrived while we were there. '80s-style electronic music was playing, not too loud, but a little incongruous in terms of style.

Chow chu cauliflower (£5.50) photo met with a mixed reaction; bob liked that the batter was crunchy, but Kake felt it was unnecessarily hard, and also a bit greasy. The cauliflower inside was cooked just right, though.

Hakka aubergine (£7.25) photo was cooked nicely soft as promised on the menu, but the advertised chilli, garlic, and soy sauce were quite muted. The sauce was somewhat gloopy, and rather too similar to that in our tofu dish.

Tofu, mushroom, and baby corn with white pepper, garlic, and oyster sauce (£7.25) photo did indeed have a good flavour of white pepper. However, the tofu was a bit hard, the mushrooms were a bit chewy, and although the baby corn was just fine there were only a few pieces of it.

Steamed rice (£3.30) was quite watery-tasting, and probably not actually cooked by absorption as one would have expected for "steamed" rice. It was a generous portion though, enough for two people.

Kake's verdict: I was somewhat disappointed with our meal, but this may have been partly down to our ordering choices. Going vegetarian was possibly a mistake, especially since we had to avoid the paneer dishes due to bob's lactose intolerance. I might give it another go if I happened to be in the area, but would be unlikely to order any of these dishes again.

Accessibility: A small step to get in, no more than an inch or so. No further steps to the toilets, and the ladies' doubles as an accessible cubicle with grab bars and a low sink but no alarm cord. Some of the seating is on a dais, up a large step.

See also:

• Photos of the menu as of October 2018: page 1, page 2, page 3, page 4, express lunch, specials
• Chowhound thread
• Another Chowhound thread
• Britpakgirl review
• Food And Flavour review
• Yelp comments