Restaurants

By Sejal Sukhadwala

With service charges forever sky-rocketing in London's restaurants (currently between 10 per cent and 15 per cent), it's positively bizarre to come across a place that charges only 2.5 per cent service. 'Are you sure it's 2.5 per cent?' I asked the waiter at the end of my meal at Sangeetha, 'it's not a printing error?' He just smiled and shrugged. I paid the bill (£14.29, including 35p service), and pressed a further £1.50 in his palm. It was a disconcerting end to the evening.

Sangeetha is the latest in a long line of plain, sparsely decorated eateries that have sprung up around Kenton and Harrow in recent years. Part of an international chain originating in Chennai (Madras), it sells classic South Indian vegetarian dishes.

Chicken 65 (there are dozens of theories about its name) is a legendary south Indian bar snack made from chicken pieces that are marinated in a lurid-coloured batter and shallow fried. Here the veggie version was made with (unmarinated) paneer pieces that were first shallow-fried, then deep-fried in a fluroscent-red batter: pointless and fattening.

Much better was cauliflower masala dosa: mouth-scorchingly hot filling encased in perfect velvet-textured pancakes. Poori masala kurma came with pooris (puffed breads) that were light and as inflated as a Chinese whisper, but the accompanying curries were a disappointment: a chickpea curry had the coarse flavour of packet-spice mix, and a mushy potato dish was rendered unappetising by slices of undercooked onions.

Other dishes like pongal (rice congee) and Madras thali (six classic curries from Madras with a big bowl of rice, chapattis and poppadums) might be a better bet, however. The restaurant also holds annual dosa and chutney 'festivals'.

Service from a battalion of waiters was sweet and attentive throughout. Should I have tipped them all? I don't know, this 2.5 per cent service charge issue has been giving me nightmares.

Time Out London Issue 1852: February 15-22 2006