Restaurants

One of our favourite London restaurants, Mandalay, astonishingly, has been untarnished by success for more than a decade. With laudable lack of greed, the solicitous, friendly Ally family (from Burma, via Norway) have refused to turn their business into a chain, to hike prices or to dilute recipes. They still operate from this cosy, 28-seater room on drab Edgware Road (wooden blinds protecting diners from traffic), where etchings and travel posters of Myanmar/Burma add decoration to the rudimentary furnishings. Young food-adventurers, some perhaps of Burmese origin, are attracted by the exciting menu. Burmese cuisine has influences from Thailand, India and China, with several dishes all its own. Nothing we sampled was mundane. Start with minced chicken samosas or one of several bhaji-like fritters all freshly cooked. Cleanse your palate with a salad (strips of assorted veg coated in sesame oil and chilli flecks, say) or an equally refreshing soup (the bottle gourd is recommended). To follow, pickle-style lamb is a tangy dry curry, whereas adorably light omelette curry comes in ladles of tomato-based curry sauce. Sprinkle balachaung (intensely fishy dried prawns) over the lot, and tonight youll dream you went to Mandalay again.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008