Kilburn, Indian, Southern Restaurant Guide

“Proper Indian food, proper paper napkins” – this Kilburn institution, which claims to have been Britain’s first South Indian restaurant when it opened in 1964, remains “exactly as it was when the great Michael Winner recommended it back in 1990-something. ‘Historic’, said the old boy, and it still is”. “Unfortunately you have to eat in drab surroundings” – which is a tactful way of putting it – but fans (who apparently include luminaries ranging from Diana Ross and Harrison Ford to the Indian cricket team), reckon it’s worth it for the “top-notch” food and “really polite and professional” service. It caters equally for “meat-eaters, vegetarians and vegans”. Top Tip – you may be tempted to eat in the more salubrious quarters of your own home, but the nosh is “so much better fresh than take-away”.

The “delicious southern Indian dishes” at this Kilburn Keralan have “a fine subtlety in their flavours”. “It has the feel of an unpretentious family-run business, where their hearts are in the cooking and service”.