As previously, here’s a roundup of interesting things I ate in London in July 2019. Would love to hear others’ opinions on these, or on anything else.
Vitosha, 108a Croydon High Street, CR0 1ND (website)
This was my first encounter with mish-mash, a sort of Bulgarian equivalent to the Turkish menemen. It’s eggs, scrambled loosely with roasted red peppers, onions, tomato sauce, and feta, served with bread (photo). They do offer supermarket sliced (at 20p per slice), but I chose one of their several flavours of parlenka instead — a flatbread available in butter, cheese, feta, and garlic versions.
Sambal Kitchen & Diner, 247 Northolt Road, South Harrow, HA2 8HR (website)
A rare eat-in branch of this chain of Sri Lankan takeaways. My set meal (photo) was based around aubergine curry with two parottas, masoor dhal, and katta sambal. The dhal was very good, the aubergines and parottas were fine, but the sambal was absolutely amazing — plenty of fresh chilli flavour without blowing your head off, a beautiful crunch, and loads of fresh juiciness.
Momo & Roti, 22 Kingsley Road, Hounslow, TW3 1NP (website)
I only wanted a snack to keep me going until dinner, so chose the chatpate (photo) — a street-food dish based on savoury puffed rice. The flavours were perfectly balanced between spicy, sour, and salty, and there was a good textural contrast from finely chopped cucumber, tomato, and onion. I’m keen to explore more of their menu.
Karachi Cuisine, 1113–1115 London Road, SW16 4XD (website)
I am a bad Onion because every time I come here I have the same thing — halwa poori (photo from a previous visit). It’s just so good. The bread is rich without being greasy, the halwa isn’t overly sweet, I like the potato curry even though I find potatoes generally boring, and the chickpea curry has an amazingly savoury flavour.
Good Egg, 93 Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 0AS (website)
With a menu inspired by Israeli, Middle Eastern, and American Jewish food, and boards advertising house-made shrub and house-smoked meat and fish, this small all-day dining chain is clearly aimed directly at me. I had the marinated feta hash (photo) which again made me re-think my opinion of potatoes, though it was the toppings that made the dish: well-sauteed onions and peppers, a flavoursome but not over-salty feta, a smooth harissa-based sauce, two delicious house-made pickles, and fresh tarragon and dill. There was a fried egg too, but honestly it didn’t need to be there.
Urban Guj, 846 London Road, Thornton Heath, CR7 7PA (website)
I admit I was a little concerned when I saw this opening up next door to Santok Maa’s (which I have discussed here many times before), but despite being both vegetarian and Gujarati it’s completely different, aimed at a younger and trendier crowd. Wada pau (photo) was more expensive than I’m used to, but totally worth it; everything was fresh and tasty, with zinginess, crunchiness, and softness as appropriate. They’re still expanding the menu, and I look forward to future visits.
