Restaurants

Tooting’s old guard of South Indian restaurants caters mainly for non-Asian diners, but the new wave is aimed firmly at the many recent Tamil immigrants who have moved to the area. The look of Dosa n Chutny is as uncompromising as the menu descriptions are terse: bright lighting, orange furniture the colour of traffic cones, a flat-screen TV droning overhead. Classic breakfast and snack dishes are beautifully prepared, such as the wafer-thin, crisp dosas or the idlis with perfect sponge-like texture and bite. For somewhere with ‘chutny’ in the name, the chutneys are a little repetitive: standard coconut dips, green or red. The sambar is rich and sweet, in the Chennai style. Other food, such as the chicken 65, is far less impressive, and the Sri Lankan string-hopper dishes aren’t a strong point, but at prices this low – idli sambar £2.99, masala dosa £2.50 – it’s churlish to complain. Do try the tea and masala tea; they’re as close to Indian chai as you’ll find in Tooting. On several visits, we have consistently been the only table with non-Asian diners present; it’s time the rest of Tooting gave this place a try.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2009