There aren’t many restaurants in London which can boast over 22 years of service, but yet after all that time and should I mentioned still completely packed when we dined, is pan-Indian restaurant – Café Spice Namasté. As far as Indian restaurants go, this is arguably one of the best known, just as much as its celebrity chef – Cyrus Todiwala OBE.
Café Spice Namasté is Cyrus and Pervin Todiwala’s family-run Indian restaurant in historic East London, a short stroll from the Tower of London. Committed to using the best local British produce wherever possible, and always the freshest ingredients, the restaurants serves traditional dishes us Londoners love, but also lots of new ones you might never discover unless dining here.
Like every good Indian meal, we started by tucking into some freshly cooked popadoms accompanied by a stunning selection of chutneys, yoghurts and pickles. Each was packed with flavour, had a good bite to them and once you devour them on top of the popadoms you’ll be wanting to take bottles of the stuff home with you. In fact, the chutneys served here are sold in jars by the entrance so make sure you pick some up on the way out.
A great snack and introduction to the menu is this bhel poori. A combination of puffed rice, chickpea vermicelli, crushed crisp poories, diced potato, chopped shallots, fresh coriander and chilli – drizzled with tamarind & date sauce. This isn’t normally a dish I’d eat in a restaurant, usually as a quick snack – but none the less I really enjoyed it.
My favourite ever Indian food? Gosh that’s such a hard decision as I have far too many. But my favourite thing to snack on, wether out and about or as a starter in a restaurant – is the humble and delicious samosa. Here at Café Spice Namasté their vegetarian samosa is packed with a blend earthy diced beetroot, potato and tossed with freshly grated coconut and spices. It’s utterly divine.
Another all time favorite of mine – paneer. It’s one of those things which when cooked, either turns out terrible or sensational and I’m glad to confirm this was the latter. Soft, moist and marinated in a light tandoori masala sauce. A lovely charred flavour ran throughout and the vegetables were a nice filler. If you like paneer, don’t miss this dish.
My main of lamb dhaansaak was a dish I can only guess a signature of the restaurant and I’m told the efforts that go into making a traditional Parsee Sunday roast, or “Dhaansaak” are enough to deter many chefs! This classic lamb dish we all know and love is prepared in an authentic Parsee style and is served with some fragrant rice, spiced meatball and a small onion salad and wedge of lime. Advised to mix everything together first was the best advice given and even that lime juice really lifted the dish to new heights. Just like the curry, the side of cheese, chilli and garlic naan was one of the finest I’ve had all year and was perfect for mopping up all those lovely juices.
Desserts are also a big part of the Café Spice Namasté offering, so save room. All of the ice creams, sorbets and kulfi’s are home-made – so my advice would be to start here and work your way through them. We ordered the hazelnut kulfi which we originally thought was a little highly priced, but once it arrives you’ll take that all back because it’s huge. Slow roasted Sicilian Hazelnuts are pureed to a smooth paste to make this kulfi and the taste really comes through. It’s a great dish to share.
Also worth ordering is the Indian take on the traditional brulee, again very generously sized and laced with saffron, cardamom & and a hint of fresh ginger. It was a lovely way to finish our dinner.
We had a really lovely evening at Cyrus’s Café Spice Namasté and having heard all about it for so many years, I’m so glad the hype lived up to our expectations. It’s not cheap and the dining room itself could probably do with a little updating just about now, but the food is the star of the show so when you sit down to eat – none of that really matters. Would we come back? The simple answer is a big fat YES.
I love good Indian food, it sounds delicious!