I came to the United Kingdom few months back.Although I don’t have any problems in cooking daily as a routine, we all do have a liking to eat out, don’t we? Well.we too got that thought and during our visit to London, planned to eat in one of the various Indian restaurants out there.
We went to a place called Eastham in London, which is almost similar to any busy place in South India.I was pleasantly surprised to see so many restaurants(Indian) like Saravana Bhavan, Vasantha Bhavan, Chennai Dosa, Madras Restaurant etc.Its incredible that there are so many restaurants outside India.Its undoubtedly an achievement.
The first one to come to my mind was Saravana Bhavan, but it looked like we would have to queue up for lunch and end up having our dinner there.! sooooo big was the queue! With a bit of disappointment and reluctance, we decided to go to Vasantha Bhavan, which according to me seemed to be the next best choice(we are vegetarians.hence, narrow choice)
There was some crowd, but there was no queue and I almost toppled into a chair in hunger. We ordered for South Indian Thali and a plate of Vegetale Pulav.The food looked good, smelled good and tasted good too.I thought perhaps because we had outside food after a long time, the food seemed to taste good.I was proved absolutely wrong in my susequent visits to the restaurant.I mean.It was not coincidence or scarce availability of Indian Food which made me think that way.WOW! The taste and hygiene is fabulous there.Certainly a boon to people in London craving for South Indian Food.Not to mention the non-Indians who frequent the place to get the golden opportunity of tasting good food.
I got the idea of wrting a review about this place after having Bisi Bela Bath there for my dinner.This is one item which, when had in most of the hotels, may upset your stomach, because of the spices and the oil.But in Vasantha Bhavan it was truely like home-made.(better taste ofcourse!)
The ambience is nothing great, but its not bad either.The service from the staff is good, and we don’t have to starve before we could get what we ordered(well, if u don’t go there already starving. )
The mild taste is still lingering in my mouth.Am sure all other branches of Vasantha Bhavan, will be enjoying similar reputation.