LCB

Introduction

I usually have absolutely no reason to be in Stoke Newington, but my girlfriend's friend's son's first birthday was a good a reason as any. However, if schlepping to North London of a Saturday afternoon, it was going to be on my terms - AKA - rewarded with a curry house visit.

I'd heard about Rasa several years ago from a colleague but, given its Stoke Newington location, it remained only a distant blog target.

Joining me again was Caroline and our friends Kate and Will from previous LCB reviews. With a few pints sunk at Ryans N16 and a slice of birthday cake swallowed it was a short walk down Church Street for curry time.

Venue

Rasa is a local favourite and renowned for it's Keralan, South Indian fare. And, such is its popularity, that our late Saturday booking limited us to a 5.30 sitting, and even then the place was half full and filling rapidly.

The stark pink paint on the restaurant front flows throughout in typically vibrant south Indian fashion, reminiscent of Peckham's Ganapti. And, like Ganapti and other Keralan sites like Tooting's RKB, the interior is also adorned with Kathakali masks, wall hangings, and images from the south Indian state. Most impressive is a carved wooden freeze dominating the left hand wall as you enter. Otherwise the overall vibe is slightly garish and dated, but cosy, as covers line the narrow but lengthy restaurant floor.

7/10

Starters and sides

Snacks & Chutney

Bhel Mix

Kathrikka

Crispy Gobi Pakoda

Savoy Cabbage - Stir Fried

Tamarind Rice

Paratha

Chapathi

The menu here is staunchly loyal to Keralan cuisine unlike other curry houses that pander to British tastes with tikka masalas and, dare I say it, chips. As such, it's a veritable treasure trove of authentic dishes unlikely to be found elsewhere in London. It's also strictly vegetarian - meaning unfamiliar dishes come to the fore.

Our first foray into Kerala was with the snacks and chutney - a varied selection of fresh poppadom style snacks, including achappam, pappadavadal, poppadoms, banana chips, and murukku. The star-shaped achappam - made of rice flour, coconut, black sesame and cumin seeds - were almost sweet, while the pappadavadal - light battered poppadoms - offered a unique twist on the usual. All in all, the variety of tastes, from nutty to sweet, was an excellent start, improved further by the five dips of garlic, mango, and lemon pickle, capsicum chutney, and coriander chutney. The stand out for me was the sour lemon pickle with the coriander chutney providing a nice cooling touch on the spices.

Following the snacks were other light bites. First kathrikka - deep fried, battered aubergine slices that weren't much on their own but came to life when dipped in the accompanying firey tomato sauce. Next was the bhel mix; similar to other bhel puri, but more like a luxury savoury bowl of crunchy nut Kerala flakes - delicious. Also amazing was the cripy gobi pakoda. This was not your usual (often pathetic and overpriced) cauliflower dish. It was perfectly deep fried in a spicy chickpea batter, not too greasy, and well matched with a lovely sweet tamarind dip. Perfect.

With our curries we also had the savoy cabbage which was again far from ordinary veg. This was a beautifully light, boiled cabbage and coconut dish and a top exemplar of Keralan thoran that I've not really experienced before outside of India.

As for the breads, the chapathi was standard, but the paratha roti was lovely and flaky, and the tamarind rice was something a bit different with a signature zing.

All in all, an excellent and exciting start.

8/10

Curry

Masala Dosa

Paneer Cheera Curry

Bagar Baingan

Thakkali Curry

For our mains we had four dishes. Dominating the table at nearly two foot long was the masala dosa - a top tier dosa that, whilst a bit showy given the potato masala filled barely a third inside, still tasted great.

The other three curry dishes also had a unique look and feel - again reflecting the authentic, vegetarian menu. The thakkali curry sounded slightly generic on the menu - 'a tangy dish made from fresh tomotoes, cooked in yoghurt with fresh ginger, onions, spices, and coriander' -  but the tanginess was the key descriptor, with the light orangey tomato sauce housing a delicious zingy sour flavour in the end. The bagar baingan (actually a Hyerabadi dish) was also unlike any other I'd had before. It was oddly anemic  in colour and more tahini-esque in flavour but still a unique and enjoyable offering. Finally, the paneer cheera curry was a lovely light and creamy paneer cheese and spinach curry that topped the lot. Overall, first class veggie dishes.

8/10.

Service

The staff here served with a smile, but it was very much a collective rather than personal service. Multiple waiters served us and dishes came when they were ready. Our our booking time was also limited to 90minutes with staff nudging us to leave at the end. This was fine for us as weren't particularly rushed and dishes came in good time, but this is more Tayyabs style service than anything more refined, if a little friendlier and politer than the aforementioned.

7/10

Value for money

This is excellent food priced as vegetable dishes should be priced - cheaper than meat dishes. And, with most curries coming in around the £8 mark and starters around £5/6 there is great value to be had. We had plenty of dishes between four and our bill, excluding wine and service, came in under £20 per head. This was Tooting levels of value, north of the river. 

9/10

Summary

Rasa was highly recommended to me and I pass the same strong recommendation along. This is authentic Keralan, vegetarian cuisine at its inimitable best, and at great value. Yes, Stoke Newington isn't the most accessible location for many, but I'd say Rasa is worth the trip alone. This tops Ganapati and Radha Krishna Bhavan for me, and while Dosa n Chutney is a favourite, for pure vegetarian food you'll struggle to find better.

39/50