Roti Joupa

  
We haven't been to Trinidad before, but this Trinidadian takeaway Roti Joupa definitely made us feel like we had stepped off the streets of Clapham into a whole tropical world of exotic beaches, soca vibes and sunny islands. 

We ventured into Roti Joupa around half 12 on a very hot sunny Saturday. The seating area of Roti Joupa was already very packed, it seemed like this place was a hot spot for the local Caribbeans! The friendly afternoon bustle coupled with the soca music playing in the background really did set the Caribbean vibes, you just had to get up and get your groove on! 

One of the customers kindly told us that Trinidadian cuisine is rooted from India. The dish 'Hot Doubles' is a typical Trinidadian dish. He was brought up in Trinidad and hot doubles were served in carts for lunch at school, or as a home comfort food.  We couldn't wait to try them! We just had to order a hot double each, and on a spur we decided to try the Pholourie between us as well. 

Hot Doubles £1.50

A Hot Double is a popular Trinidadian street food, made from two fried flat breads which are filled with curried chickpeas. 

We both ordered one each and were given the choice of mild, medium and spicy at the time of ordering. We went for medium to be on the safe side. 

We wanted to take advantage of the sunshine so we took our food to Clapham Common Park. 

The hot doubles were delicious, starting off not very spicy at all until we got to the curried chickpeas where the spices kicked in with a vengeance. However, once we got used to the spices it was delightful. They were definitely worth the wait (we had to wait around 15 to 20 minutes for our order) and the only thing we underestimated was the size of the hot double. It was not very filling so in the future we would definitely buy two!

Pholourie £1.50

Pholourie are deep fried balls made from split pea flour and traditionally come with a chutney.

For the Pholourie we were again given the choice of mild, medium and spicy at the time of ordering. We chose medium.

The Pholourie were soft and tasty to start off with but they were heavy and filling despite their size. They were also very spicy, almost too spicy to enjoy properly! We would not get them again.

Overall we really enjoyed our trip to Roti Joupa, we will definitely be visiting this little gem again, keen to try out the other dishes they serve, we highly recommend it. :) Tongues blazing, sun sweltering, we were definitely on fire that day!

Atmosphere  10/10

Service           10/10

Food               9/10

Chocolatesushi Rating 9.5/10

On this occasion we only ordered from the Sides Menu but the following photos are of the rest of the menu showing you what else is available to eat at Roti Joupa!

Comic Con and a huge meal at Dosa n Chunty!!

In May, Sammi and I went to Comic Con at the Excel Centre with our friend Ara. As we were going to be buying tickets at the door we tried to get there as early as possible. Getting there for around 10am we got distracted at the entrance by taking pictures. When we finally got to the hall, the queue for buying tickets was so long we couldn't see where it began!! There began our 2 hour wait with little or no food. As we waited the three of us got hungrier and hungrier and we decided to go for a really big meal after the convention!

The only time I had been to Dosa n Chutny was a couple of years ago so I couldn't for the life of me remember what the food was like. However, Sammi and I were prepared and a week earlier had been looking at the menu online (that's what we do).

At the restaurant, the waitress bought us the menus, gave us sufficient time to decide and then was back to take our order.

Vegetable Samosa - £1.00

The vegetable samosa was Sammi's starter which she remembers as being the perfect samosa: crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, with just enough spices to add flavour to the vegetables. She loved it!

Curd Vada (2 pieces) - "Lentil doughnut immersed in mild yoghurt garnished with carrots and coriander" - £2.25

I've eaten Vadus (lentil doughnuts) before and this starter didn't dissapoint. The yogurt was fresh, the pieces of vada soft and delicious, and the dish itself was quite big for a starter. The three of us shared this starter.

Special Masala Dosa - "Crepe with seasoned potatoes, onions, mixed vegetables and cashew nuts" - £3.50

Sammi and I had both decided that we had to try a Dosa as that is what Dosa n Chunty are famous for. The Special Masala Dosa was Sammi's choice. 

She remembers the dosa as being plain, with the contents of the dosa not having enough flavour. However, she liked the 3 sauces which accompanied the dosa but in the future would go for a meat dosa.

Masala Dosa - "Crepe with seasoned potatoes and onions" - £2.95

I chose the Masala Dosa and when it arrived I was surprised by how big it was. With the dosa I was given a daal curry sauce, and two other sauces, one of which was a yogurt sauce. My dosa had a generous helping of potatoes and onions in it but I agree with Sammi, they could have had more flavour. The three sauces saved the dish as the dosa dipped in the lentil curry sauce or the yogurt sauce was delicious.

Lamb Rogan Josh - "A classic Kashmiri dish; tender pieces of spring lamb cooked in an onion tomato gravy with selected spices" - £5.50

No visit to an Indian Restaurant or in this case a South Indian Restaurant is complete without a curry! 

Our friend Ara is a vegetarian so she ordered a seperate dish, a Vegetable Kothu (Indian fluffy bread shredded on a hot Tawa, mixed with vegetables and Indian spices).

Sammi and I shared the Lamb Rogan Josh. Now we have eaten many lamb curries in our time but this was seriously the tastiest lamb curry I have had in a restaurant. It wasn't too spicy, the lamb pieces were so soft they almost melted in my mouth! If I came back to Dosa n Chunty and there was only one dish I could have this would be it!!

Garlic Naan

"Indian bread freshly cooked with garlic in tandoor"

£1.95.

The peshwari naan was our original choice of naan but they had finished their batch of peshwari that day so we ordered a garlic naan instead, which was the second best option. The naan was freshly cooked and tasty, perfect for eating with our lamb curry.

Faluda - £3.50

Now I remind you how hungry we were that day after all that walking we had done at Comic Con so we felt we deserved a dessert...who doesn't?! I have had the traditional faluda before which I love and I wanted to try Dosa n Chunty's take on it. The faluda started well, with fresh cream at the top, refereshing mango ice cream and pieces of fruit but it went downhill from there. The basil seeds at the bottom, of which there was unfortunately a very generous helping, were very bitter and the watery jelly at the bottom left a bad aftertaste in the mouth. We would not get this dessert again!

Atmosphere  8/10

Food               9/10

Service           8/10

Chocolatesushi Rating 8/10

Dawat Tooting Review

Located in Tooting, between Tooting Bec and Tooting Broadway underground stations. Dawat is a Halal Indian restaurant. 

On the outside, Dawat appears quite small, but looks can be deceiving :) Dawat opens into a surprisingly big interior. Me and Nabs decided to take a seat here after deciding that eating a curry in the park (as we had originally planned) would be a bit difficult. 

The waitress did seem a bit grumpy while showing us to our table and also throughout the service, but towards the end after getting charmed by our lovely selves she eventually cheered up a little ;)

We were asked whether we wanted our dishes coming out separately or all at once, and we said all at once so here comes the on slaughter of food!... 

First the salad and the dipping sauces.

Meat Samosa 80p

I cannot get an Indian without ordering a samosa and this one was lovely especially with the dipping sauce! :)

Seekh Kebab 70p

Lamb Mirchi £5.99

Lamb Karahi £5.49

Peshawari Naan £2.49

This was to share between us

Let's feast away! Both of the lamb curries were very delicious and also very similar to one another, but I would say that the lamb mirchi had a slightly sweeter aroma to the lamb karahi. 

After demolishing a samosa and half of my lamb mirchi I was surprisingly full! And usually I can finish a curry, naan and small starter easily! 

There was a very generous helping of lamb in the curries, around 15 pieces of meat, that is a lot of meat! Usually in the curries I've had, there is only around 5 pieces swimming in a pool of curry sauce, so the curries were definitely good value for money!

With the very decent prices, big portions and very relaxed atmosphere I would certainly visit Dawat again!

Atmosphere 8/10

Food           9/10

Service        8/10

Chocolatesushi Rating 8.5/10

Sammii