Five stars of the East
Curryleaf, 18 Charlotte Street W1 (020 7436 7402) £26.
By my reckoning, this recently opened restaurant will be the fifth Indian in Charlotte Street where once the kebabs were mostly Greek. Nothing on the menu startles but most dishes are uncommonly carefully cooked. Try the Kerala chicken curry and the excellent tarka dal. That alone with pilau rice would be an authentic, cheap, healthy, satisfying meal.
Saagar, 157 King Street W6 (020 8741 8563) £22.
Many of the cooks who work in India's South Indian restaurants have trained at the medieval Krishna temple in Udipi on the west coast of Karnataka. Some seem to have made it as far as Hammersmith, for the vegetarian food here is blessedly good. Idlis and dosas are light and subtly spiced, the seasonal vegetables a revelation. Sweet staff.
Cocum, 9 Approach Road, Raynes Park SW20 (020 8540 3250) £22.
Binu Raj, who specialises in "Kerala village cuisine", learned to cook at his mother's knee and at Rasa in Stoke Newington. The eponymous tart and tonic fruit, aka fish tamarind or butternut berry, is an important flavouring in seafood curries. These, plus dals and vegetables dishes, are distinctly alluring, as is the decor.
Chameli, 56 Chetwynd Road NW5 (020 7482 2833) £28. Ramdas Pawar from Baroda in Gujerat is chef and partner in this Tufnell Park local Indian. Those last four words don't necessarily set you up for the fresh, creative cooking on offer. In the main course, choose from Ramdas's Special Recommendations and don't miss Chameli chicken, rogan josh or the Gujerati mix of dal with Indian pumpkin. Service is charming.
New Tauuab, 83 Fieldgate Street E1 (020 7247 9543) £16 (BYO). There are good pulses and vegetable assemblies but the glory of Pakistani cooking is grilled meat; chargrilled lamb chops here are legendary. Karahi-cooked dishes are also very fine. Try batera (quail) or dal with karela (bitter melon). A recent revamp of the decor has added colour and spice to the surroundings to match that of the cooking.
Prices above estimate the cost of a meal with wine for one.
