Friday, December 18, 2009

Rasa Samudra



5 Charlotte Street
London
W1T 1RE

This belongs to a chain of Keralan Indian restaurants called Rasa - I've been to the original vegetarian one in Stoke Newington. This one specializes in seafood and J and I were surprised to open the menu and see almost nothing familiar. We picked out one fish and one vegetarian curry, with lemon rice and a paratha to share. While I thought the prices were a little high for lunch, I think they use the same menu at dinner. Also, once the food came out and we tasted how unique the dishes were, I thought it was worth the extra cost - each dish was clearly freshly made and had a distinct flavor profile, unlike at some cheaper Indian restaurants where all the dishes taste similar. We had the Varatha Meen Masala (A specialty of the Travancore Christians. Lightly fried and juicy pieces of King Fish cooked in thick tomatoe sauce with ,fresh curry leaves onions, fried chillies, turmeric and ginger) and Bagar Baingan (A Hyderabad recipe of aubergines cooked in a ground paste of roasted onions, coriander seeds, chillies and tamarind, mixed with yoghurt and cashew nut sauce). Maybe not a place to have lunch regularly but it was certainly a treat!

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