TCP: The Curry Project

As the skies opened up and the rain began pouring down during the walk back to my hotel, I immediately ran for cover. Hopping onto the sidewalk, I opened the first door I came across, went inside and found myself standing in a tiny foyer.

When I looked up from shaking the water off of my shoes, I noticed a simple paper sign in front of me that read, “Namaste Kerala – South Indian Buffet – £7.95”.

Unable to think of a better way to wait out a rain storm than over a plate of Indian food, I climbed the long stairwell up to the second floor restaurant.  As soon as I entered the brightly lit room, I was greeted by a well-dressed young man who offered an extended handshake and an enthusiastic welcome. He seemed genuinely excited about my arrival, even though the restaurant was already practically full.

I was then led to the last remaining table with a view, while noticing that unlike other South Indian restaurants that seemed to differ from North Indian eateries in name only, Namaste Kerala took a different approach. Although simply decorated, the walls were not covered in photos of the Taj Mahal or of the Himalayas, but instead, of Southern Indian artifacts such as the colorful, traditional masks of the Kathakali dancers of Kerala.

After informing the waiter that I was most certainly interested in the buffet, a most peculiar thing occurred. The waiter asked if he could accompany me to the food in order to personally explain each dish. Despite possessing what I considered to be a sound understanding of Indian cuisine, I accepted his offer as I was not only curious to hear what he had to say, but felt that declining might ruin his cheerful mood.

Little did I know that I was about to receive a series of energetic, forty-five-second summaries detailing the ingredients, preparation methods, spice levels and suggested accompaniments of all twelve dishes in front of me. It actually turned out to be a well needed lesson, as instead of the typical and more familiar North Indian curries, this buffet was stocked with a variety of lesser well-known South Indian dishes.

So after glancing over the standard samosas, pakodas and saag paneer, I soon found myself much more interested in the vazhudananga porichethu (sliced aubergine coated in batter and served with pineapple chutney), vendakka curry (a tamarind-flavored curry made of okra, garlic, tomato and onion and seasoned with mustard seeds), pachakkari koottan (green plantains, carrots and potatos cooked with ginger, garlic, spices and coconut milk) and munnar kozhi curry (chicken breast marinated with ginger and garlic and cooked in yogurt, coriander and green chillies) among others.

And before long, I discovered that it was not only the descriptions of the food that were outstanding, but the food itself as well. This one meal changed my long held opinion that South Indian food consisted of little more than masala dosas and uttappams and introduced me to an entirely new set of remarkably appetizing dishes.

Of course, with a waiter that meets every customer at the front of the buffet line in order to personally hand them a clean, perfectly warmed plate and with a team of chefs working hard to ensure that every dish is kept as hot and fresh as possible, it’s hard to imagine anything but a most enjoyable eating experience at Namaste Kerala.

After finishing my meal, shaking hands once again with the waiter and stepping back out onto the High Street, I realized that I never even looked at Namaste Kerala’s actual menu. But I suppose that few people actually order from it, as the economically-priced buffet, with its unusually wide and unique variety of dishes, is offered for both lunch (£7.95) and dinner (£12.95). And included in that price is several delicious, freshly-prepared desserts as well, such as a cardamom-infused rice pudding and steaming hot gulab jamun.

All that was missing was a free pint of Kingfisher.

But as luck would have it once again, when the dark skies began its second round of heavy rain only a few minutes after I had left the restaurant, I ended up taking cover in a local pub, just as happy hour was about to begin.

Restaurant Details:
Namaste Kerala
4a Civic Centre Road
+44 023 80 22 4422
www.namaste-kerala.co.uk
Hours: 7 Days a Week from 12:00pm – 2:30pm & 6:00pm – 11:30pm