Dosa mission part 1 accomplished. I worked late tonight so wanted to grab a takeaway on the way home. As Northenden is only about 10 mins drive away I thought I'd give Lotus a try from the list on my previous post.
Hopefully they do better trade on the weekends, as the restaurant was deserted at about 8pm on a Thursday night. The staff seemed pleased to see me, and eager to know how I'd found out about them. Apparently their
weekend buffets and banana leaf meals draw in the punters.
I ordered a chicken masala dosa (£5.30 I think) to go. A dosa is probably not the best choice for takeaway as the pancake goes a bit floppy in transit. Thirty seconds under a hot grill crisped it up nicely though.
The results: not bad at all. It was certainly much more appetising than my crap photo suggests! Crisp, thin dosa, nearly as long as your arm. Spiced potato and chicken curry fillings, generous with the chicken. Classic accompaniments - sambhar and two chutney's. The spicing was fairly decent throughout, with plenty of curry leaves and mustard seeds in evidence, but not really enough heat. South Indian food usually purges you with a full-on chilli blast. This was a bit tame in comparison with my past experiences, but I guess this could just be them catering to the market. Most of the South Indian spots in London are
canteens catering to the local Tamil populations, not a particularly big market in Northenden I suppose. The locals here might not have such high spice tolerance levels.
In summary, definitely worth further investigation. I'll be back to try out the curries. They also have a Malaysian menu to check out.
7/10
289 Palatine Road
Northenden
Manchester
M22 4ET
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