Picture of Kalpa, CR0 2SB

Historical version 1 of Kalpa, CR0 2SB (view current version)

Sri Lankan and Keralan restaurant in Croydon, a short walk from West Croydon Station.

The building was once two separate shops, and is still in two clear halves with a couple of doorways between. Decor is fairly simple, with highly polished tiles on the floor, sparkly melamine table tops, plain-painted walls, and ladder-backed wooden chairs photo. It seats maybe about 50-60 people in total.

Kake and bob visited on a Wednesday lunchtime in July 2018. There were just a couple of other customers when we arrived, with one other turning up while we were there. Music was playing very quietly.

Mutton rolls (£2.50) had fairly thick skins and not too much mutton inside, but the meat that was there was well flavoured and tender. The accompanying chutney of tomato, onion, and fresh pineapple went well with them.

Gobi 65 (£4.50) photo didn't have the thick batter it usually has, but just a thin crust of spices and possibly a sprinkling of cornflour. It was pretty good, though perhaps a touch too salty.

Mackerel curry (£5) photo was very good, with competently-cooked fish that came easily off the bone, and a rich, savoury sauce with plenty of mackerel flavour. Cabbage (£4) photo came dry-fried with carrot, coconut, fresh green chilli, and some nicely nutty lentils.

Plain rice (£2.50) photo was fine, with nicely separated grains. A plain appam (£1.25) photo was very thin and crisp around the edges, and thick without being stodgy in the centre, but the flavour was a little too sweet.

Masala tea (£1.70) photo was freshly made, and fine albeit nothing special.

No service charge was added to the bill.

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Last visited by Kake and bob, July 2018. Opening hours taken from the Kalpa website, July 2018.
OS X co-ord: 531816 OS Y co-ord: 166616 (Latitude: 51.382768 Longitude: -0.105580)
This is version 1 (as of 2018-07-23 10:01:33). View current version.