Food&Drink News&Reviews
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Doosie dosas
Regional cuisine isn’t just the preserve of Tuscany or Andalucia, as Donald Reid finds in an engaging new Tamil restaurant in Edinburgh
SIDE DISHES NEWS TO NIBBLE ON
JIGINDER MAJHU, in her own words the ‘long-suffering’ wife of Sanjay Majhu of the Harlequin Restaurant group, is the power behind the new Ashoka Cook School, which is running both day and night sessions at Motherwell College teaching dishes from the Ashoka repertoire. ashokacookschool.com
EARTHY FOODS & GOODS are opening up a second branch in early
September with Earthy Porty at 19 Windsor Place, just off the High Street in Portobello. As with the original shop on Ratcliffe Terrace on Edinburgh’s Southside, it’ll focus on local food, organic produce and fair trade and sustainable household goods. earthy.co.uk
INNOCENT, the feel-good drinks company, are on the road promoting healthy takeaways with a HGV (‘hungry grassy van’) serving veggie burgers, kofte pitas, rainbow chips and a £5 meal deal which promises your five-a-day all in one go. It’s rolling into Glasgow between 21 and 23 September. innocentdrinks.co.uk/hungry
A menu uplifted by fresh, appealing food Plain, matter-of-fact interior
street food in south India, its simplicity belied only by the spicing in the accompaniments, which feature subtle, aromatic blends of curry leaves, tamarind, mustard seeds, fresh mint and
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I t isn’t hard to find an Indian restaurant in Edinburgh or Glasgow, but it can be hard to find one with a difference. Certainly, the tapas – or thali-style of small dishes has modernised the style of eating in some, and there are elements of regionalisation in Pakistani, Punjabi and Nepalese restaurants, though even the best of these hedge their bets with popular curries from all areas of the sub- continent – and none, in the case of balti or tikka masala.
So, rather than feeling at sea when confronted with a menu offering no bhunas, jalfrezis or tandooris, there’s immediately a sense of freshness and intrigue when you cast your eye over Tanjore’s homely bill of fare. Owner Boon Ganeshram has run a stall in recent years at the Edinburgh Mela, and has now taken things forward with the opening of Tanjore, named after the ancient city in Tamil Nadu in southeast India. Boon’s star turn are her dosai, the two-feet wide crepes made from a ground lentil and rice batter, served with fresh chutneys and a daal-like vegetable dip called sambar, often curled around a serving of potato, vegetable or, less typically, meat curry. Like French crêpes or granny’s pancakes, dosai are fantastic minutes after coming off the hot stove, but head downhill thereafter — and anything out of a package is tired, artificial and chewy. It’s typical
72 THE LIST 25 Aug–22 Sep 2011
coconut, to name only the most prominent. Along with the dosai there are other freshly cooked staples including uthappam (a thicker, fluffier pancake), idli (steamed batter cakes), and vadai (a deep-fried lentil-flour doughnut). There are curries, of course, but it’s a short, appealing selection from South India including a fish dish from Kerala and Karaikudi curry featuring star aniseed, fennel and coconut milk. And, as if to complete the sense of welcome and homeliness of the family-run affair, there’s both a dedicated kids’ menu (rarely seen in Indian restaurants) and some proper desserts including paniyaram rice cakes flavoured with saffron, cardamom and pistachios.
TANJORE
6–8 Clerk Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9HX 0131 478 6518, tanjore.co.uk
Mon–Fri noon–2.30pm, 5–10pm; Sat/Sun noon–10pm Ave. price two-course meal: £7.95 (set lunch) / £14 (dinner)
BAR CRAWLER BAR WITH NO NAME 45–47 Bell Street, Glasgow
This Merchant City bar has already chewed through a couple of names recently in Red Lizard and Merchants’ House. Now it is after a new one, seeking Glaswegian wit and wisdom and offering a reward of £1000 and a Spanish holiday for the winning suggestion. The coming months will show whether the new owners have created a Bar with No Limits or a Bar with No Future.