Up north, in Leeds and Bradford, I was spoilt for choice when it came to finding a good curry. There is this really decent and inexpensive curry house, 7 Spices, near enough to Hyde Park that makes amazing lamb bhunas. For fancier sit-down meals, there’s also plenty of choice – like Akbars and Mumtaz . Indian (or sometimes more accurately Bangladeshi or Pakistani) food is all about curries up north, but not necessarily so down south it seems.
For Christmas, the work team and I went to Woodlands Restaurant in Marylebone. One of my colleagues is from south India and Woodlands hails from around there too. Five of us were out for the meal – three had never had south Indian food before. So we put our faith in the Indian among us and told her to order whatever she wanted.
We ended up sharing:
Cold starters – also called Chaats:
Bhel poori
Sev poori
Aloo papri chaat
Mains:
Dosas (lentil pancakes for want of a better description)
Paper masala dosa – it’s BIG and stuffed with potatoes
Masala dosa – same thing, but smaller and easier to eat
Chilli dosa – the really spicy one – chilli says it all I guess
Thalis – (large meal platters which come with a little bit of everything)
Delhi Royal Thali and the Woodlands thali
Because I’ve never had south Indian food before, I’ve nothing to compare it to. But I really enjoyed the food, particularly the chaats, so much so I’ve been trying to convince himself we should pay it a visit. Plus the south Indian was impressed – surely that’s a good sign?
Woodlands, 77 Marylebone Lane, London, W1U 2PS
Oops, good spot – thanks!