Dawat - 19 Nov 2013

19 November 2013 - Dawat: Dawat's for dinner?

After receiving some recommendations on Twitter, we popped into Dawat to see what all the fuss was about.

Venue

You could be forgiven for passing by Dawat. Tucked in between Dadu’s cash and carry and Jasmin’s function room its unassuming pink signage can be lost in your peripheral vision as you try and negotiate the hubbub of the Upper Tooting Road. Plus, most curry aficionados will no doubt have one eye on Mirch Masala a short way further down the street, or Masaledar in the opposite direction - tough neighbours to compete with, not least due to Dawat’s somewhat confused interior.

The place feels like it’s caught in an identity crisis between take away, restaurant and banquet hall. Facing the back, I felt like I was back in Thailand in a dubiously decorated hotel lobby dining area, whilst Tom, looking out to the road, felt like he was in a living room; not least due to all the families present. It felt at times like we were interrupting the mid-week, evening meal, and the pale green adorning the walls added to the discomfort.

Other notable features were the Fortress of Solitude style lights and a large and mysterious wooden door to the left – who knows, maybe the entrance to an Aladdin’s cave of curry pleasure, but probably not.

Generally, Dawat lacks the frenetic atmosphere of Mirch or Lahore Karahi up the road, but neither does it impress with more cultured design and decoration. This said, our fellow diners seemed very much at home, comfortably seeking the waiters’ attention and signalling orders with the art of fingers and nods, as if the kebabs were being auctioned. I suppose we felt slightly unsure of ourselves, but we were welcomed with smiles and the food eased our concerns.

5/10 for Venue.

Starters and Sides

Poppadoms
Mango Lassi
Coconut Rice
Kulcha Naan
Peshwari Naan
Chicken Shashlick

The poppadoms were some of the best, and the mango chutney was bucket-sized in its generosity, much to Tom’s approval. The chicken shashlick was standard, but with a little bit of a stronger kick than some of the more Anglicised tikka offerings elsewhere on the high street. However, perhaps we should have been more adventurous in our choice of starter.

The breads proved more pleasing, with the sesame of the kulcha naan adding a nutty edge to proceedings and the buttery peshwari providing the perfect compliment to the prawn curry. The coconut rice was decent too and is seemingly becoming our rice of choice (sorry pilau).

You’ll also note the mango lassi indicating the no alcohol policy Dawat operates. We can’t say we condone this, but always respect our hosts. 7/10.

Curry

Deigi Methi Gosht
Tandoori King Prawn Curry

We were recommended the dal gosht, but opted for the deigi methi gosht instead. After the less than impressive surroundings, the main dishes more than made the visit worthwhile. The lamb was melt-in-your-mouth, fall-off-the-bone good and the methi sauce rich with bitter herb flavours. Likewise, the prawn was excellent. The rich tomato curry was filled to the brim with juicy butterflied king prawns and was lovingly mopped up with naan to the last.  These two dishes more than made up for the choice of paint and the odd wooden furnishings  - 9/10.

Staff

As mentioned, the staff were welcoming and quite attentive to surrounding diners’ whimsical gesturing. Our waiter was very smiley and several other gleams met us on entry and departure too. We also noted our options being taken down on a crib sheet order book which we appreciated for its efficiency. Beyond this, there was little of note to mention from the staff so a steady 6 out of 10 it is.

VFM

Whilst the curries were delightful and the prawn was at a pound premium, Dawat is still a fraction more expensive than elsewhere. We were charged extra for the mango chutney, which is not a policy we’re huge fans of (despite ensuring we got our money’s worth). Similarly, the litre bottle of Evian placed on our table was not free. Whilst we were quite aware what was going on we always like to give the benefit of the doubt, often to be disappointed by these unnecessary and underhand techniques. Anyway, at £40 a head with tip it wasn’t too bad, but not as competitive as it could have been; 6/10.

Summary

Dawat was never going to be top of our list when we set out on this Tooting tasting trek, but the main dishes here reached impressive heights. Evidently we weren't overwhelmed by the venue itself, but the scores have come in at a mid-table 33/50. Dawat are you waiting for? Check it out for yourself!

Sree Krishna - 3 Oct 2013

3 October 2013 - Sree Krishna: Where it all began

The year is 1973, a swathe of renewed hope is sweeping the US as Richard Nixon is inaugurated for his second presidential term and the Vietnam War has just come to an end. Across the Atlantic, the UK looks forward to economic prosperity upon joining the European Economic Community and, in South London, on the crest of this wave of optimism, one man dared to dream.

Forty years on, Nixon’s presidency is marred by the Watergate scandal and the European Union is suffering a recession, but Mr ‘Mickey’ Ramanarayanan’s restaurant reverie – Sree Krishna – is still going strong after spawning a cultural revolution in Tooting.

Here we review this bastion of local history, an establishment, without which, this blog would quite literally not exist.

On this occasion, we were joined by Liam Corry, a new resident of Tooting who, two months ago, cheated death when he was hit by a bus in Balham – presumably surviving because he couldn’t leave us without paying homage to the spiritual home of Tooting curry. Good lad.

Like Apu going in search of the original Kwik-E Mart, we ventured down to Broadway to pay our respects…

Venue

Sree Krishna is situated in an imposing grey marble building on the corner of Carlwell Street and Tooting High Street. At night the scene is slightly more welcoming with blue neon piping around the sign and fairy lights in the windows, but the environ within is more mood-lit and traditional than some of the chaos elsewhere up the road.

On our visit it felt a bit stuffy, and Liam even remarked: ‘it smells like Grandma’, but I’ve no idea what he was talking about. However, it did feel more athenaeum than curry house, but this is as one might expect from a venue of such esteem. Indeed, the marble floors, smart furniture and crockery (that appears to have been renewed since my last visit) are all befitting of the place and its reverence. Plus when the draught is on, it’s less than £3 for a Kingfisher - howay the lads!

All in all, there’s no arguing this is a slightly classier joint than some others on the High Street, and its legacy above all other things is worthy of at least one bonus point. Forty years on it’s still a local landmark, and long may that continue. 9/10

Starters and sides

Poppadoms and dips
House recommended – Masala Dosa and Chicken 65
Cocunut Rice
Pilau Rice
Cocunut and Garlic Parathas

After a pretty standard poppadum, the waiter came over to take the remainder of our order. Sensing our deliberation over the other starters, he took the proverbial bull by the horns and said he’d choose for us. The result was some individually plated masala dosas and chicken 65 pieces which came with coconut, tomato and raita dips. Commendable as his initiative was, it was slightly disappointing that we missed out on the prawns we were lining up. That said, the chicken was decently spiced and the dosa was very soft and fluffy unlike some of others we’ve sampled which were more like Communion wafer than pancake. Plus, the coconut dip in particular tickled Tom’s fancy, indeed the coconut in the rice, dips and paratha was quite the bounty! Aside from that, the parathas were pretty standard and lacking in quantity; the waiter having put a stop to our ordering thinking we were getting ahead of ourselves. Little did he know that we are no amateurs; shame. 6/10.

Curry

Karaikkudi Chicken
Cochin King Prawn
Lamb Fry

Sree Krishna specialises in Keralan fare and for the mains we had a chicken, lamb and prawn combo, but, I must confess, none of them particularly stood out. Whilst the chicken was notably juicy, the sauce was quite average – mild with tame flavours. The lamb was similarly plain (yet another recommendation from the staff) and whilst we knew what to expect from the fry, the spices didn’t blow us away. The best of the bunch was the prawn in a medium sauce, but again, nothing to write home about. All in all, pretty mediocre, given the notoriety of where we were. In addition, the portions were relatively small – 6/10.

Staff

We’ve already eluded to the waiter’s proactivity, which we can’t criticise too strongly. However, another member of staff also offered us well priced draft Kingfisher that was quickly retracted once they realised the taps were off – a dangerous move to make with three thirsty males on a Thursday. That said, it appeared to be a welcoming, family affair, and, despite the outcomes, the waiter was far more affable than others we’ve encountered. After all, it’s the thought that counts – 7/10.

Value For Money

Despite not being able to take advantage of the draught, the substitute 660ml cobras were good value at 3.95 – not quite BYO, but very competitive. Unfortunately, this value wasn’t especially seen elsewhere, with the bill weighing in at £23 each. Given the portion sizes of the mains, and the paratha provision palaver, we weren’t quite satiated. We like to leave with bulging bellies and weighty wallets when we tread the curry boards of the Broadway, but on this occasion this, sadly, didn’t happen. Sure, we expected a tourist tax, given this fine diner’s heritage, but the premium was arguably slightly too high. 6/10.

Summary

Despite some evident criticism, it is fairly minor, and, ultimately, there are no real regrets after our visit. Liam even managed to get home without taking a bus out on the way.

With Mickey’s smiling face beaming down from the walls, we felt proud to have contributed to his wonderful legacy and long may it continue.

Sree Krishna is definitely worth a visit, after all, this is where it all began. 34/50.