Randomness Guide to London Menu

An excellent vegetarian Indian restaurant at 55 Stoke Newington Church Street - not to be confused with Rasa Travancore just across the road at 56 Stoke Newington Church Street (Rasa Travancore is part of the same group and has the same distinctive bright pink exterior, but serves meat-based specialities as well as a small selection of vegetarian dishes).

We ordered a selection of main curries and side dishes, as well as some "poppadoms" - we were very pleasantly surprised when, instead of standard poppadoms, we were presented with a selection of murukku (deep-fried rice flour sticks with cumin seeds), plantain chips, achappam (a deep-fried rice flour snack in the shape of a flower) and spicy poppadoms, with a plate of excellent chutneys including one made with preserved garlic and one with preserved lemons. The main meal was also lovely, with gorgeous fluffy coconut rice, spicy potatoes that actually lived up to their billing, and - my personal favourite - "Rasa Vanghi", an absolutely brilliant aubergine dish with a thick, oniony sauce. We also ordered a masala dosa, a fluffy rice flour pancake which comes filled with a delicious and very squidgy potato curry with ginger, turmeric and mustard seeds. Everything was absolutely delicious and the service was also friendly and informative - our waiter overheard Ben saying that he wasn't very good with spices and warned us about some of the hot chutneys!

A meal for 3 with snacks and drinks (no dessert though - we were too full) came to about £50 including service - especially excellent when you consider that Kath and I took the leftovers home for lunch the next day!