Randomness Guide to London - Differences between Version 6 and Version 5 of Radha Krishna Bhavan, SW17 0RN

South Indian restaurant in Tooting, in the 2007 Good Curry Guide. They bill themselves as "specialists in Kerala cuisine".

Kake, Ewan, Ben, and Matthew visited on a Wednesday evening in May 2009. We hadn't booked, but there was no problem finding us a table.

We shared three of the starters to begin. Kake's favourite of these was the uthappam (£4.50) photo, a slightly sour rice/lentil pancake topped with fresh tomatoes, curry leaves, chillies, and onions, and served with a curry sauce and a tasty coconut chutney. Chilli paneer (£6) photo was OK, though not amazing, and not really worth £6. Cashew nut pakoda (£4) photo was a bit bar-snack-like, but considered by Ewan to be very tasty.

Kake's main — vellappam with chicken Malabar (£7) photo — was disappointing. The vellappam itself, a fermented rice-based pancake, was just fine, but the accompanying chicken Malabar tasted like the boil-in-the-bag "curries" my mum used to make us eat in the '80s. Ewan's avial (£3 as a side dish) was a little tricky to eat, as its main ingredient was a gourd-type pod with an inedible skin, but tasty enough.

Service was fine. The waiter correctly offered the wine to Kake to taste, as the person who ordered it (a refreshing change from all those places which default to offering it to one of the men). They were also happy to be summoned over to identify the mystery vegetable in Ewan's avial.

Kake's verdict: I might come back, but I'd be more likely to go to Kastoori, just down the road.

Accessibility: One step up to get in.

See also:

• Andy Hayler's review
• Chowhound thread
• Time Out review

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