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ES Magazine Review
Each of the following come in a portion of 4:
|
Samosas (meat or vegetable) |
£2.00 |
|
Patties (spicy minced lamb) |
£2.00 |
|
Spring Rolls (prawns, beansprouts and carrots) |
£2.00 |
|
Potato Chops (mashed potato filled with minced lamb) |
£2.00 |
|
Lamb Croquette |
£2.00 |
|
Fish Cutlets |
£2.00 |
SorpotelThe
traditional dish of Goa - it is cooked the authentic way with pork, palm vinegar,
red chilli, garlic and ginger. The dish is hot but full of flavour. |
£3.75 |
Goa SausageA
spicy sausage (pork) with palm vinegar, red chillies - well smoked and dried
- then cooked with onions. |
£4.25 |
Ardd MassFresh
pork on the bone cooked in a traditional spicy Goan sauce made from various
spices. |
£3.75 |
Lamb XacutiFresh
diced lamb cooked in an assortment of roasted spices. It has a distinct
flavour, being spicy but not too hot. |
£3.75 |
Chicken XacutiChicken
breast, diced and cooked as above. |
£4.00 |
King Fish Caldeen (mild)Chunks
of King fish cooked in traditional Goan style with a touch of coconut, garlic
and coriander seeds. |
£4.25 |
Prawn CurryPrawns
cooked in a traditional Goan curry with coconut juice, tumeric and tender
fresh mango. |
£4.75 |
Amot Tik (sour and hot)Chunks
of Rock fish cooked in traditional Goan style with red chillies, tamarind and
kokum (sour fruit). |
£3.75 |
Chicken CurryChicken
Curry cooked in a curry sauce with a dash of lime juice. |
£4.00 |
Lamb Onion FryLamb
and potato cut into small pieces and then cooked with fried onions, garlic,
green chillies and fresh tomatoes. |
£3.75 |
Kofta CurryFresh
minced lamb rolled into small balls and cooked in curry sauce, tomatoes and
fresh coriander. |
£3.75 |
Chick Peas CurryChick
peas cooked in a special curry sauce and curry leaves. |
£2.50 |
Brinjal and Potato CurryMedium
spicy aubergine and potatoes cooked with a thick sauce. |
£2.50 |
Vegetable CurryCombination
of fresh vegetables cooked in a curry sauce. |
£2.50 |
Kidney Bean CurryRed
kidney beans and spinach cooked in a curry sauce. |
£2.50 |
Lamb BiryaniFresh
lamb pieces marinated in yogurt and spices, cooked and then mixed with
Basmati rice. |
£4.00 |
Chicken BiryaniFresh
chicken breast cooked as above. |
£4.00 |
Prawn BiryaniFresh
prawns cooked as above. |
£4.75 |
Mackerel RechardFresh
Mackerel, cut from head to tail in the centre and filled with a spicy paste
of red chillies, garlic and tamarind and then pan fried. |
£4.00 |
King Fish RechardFresh
King Fish Steak pungently spiced and pan fried. |
£4.75 |
|
Plain Boiled Rice |
£1.30 |
|
Pulao Rice |
£1.55 |
|
Sannas (steamed bread) |
£2.00 |
|
Paratha |
£0.85 |
|
Papadum |
£0.40 |
|
Fresh Salad |
£1.50 |
Travel east: go past Surrey Quays, past Greenwich, past the Thames Barrier and just before you fall off the edge of the A-Z map, you will come to Plumstead, SE18, not a postcode most people see much of. At number 136 on the High Street is an impossibly small - 14 cramped seats - and implausibly cheap restaurant.
Goan Cuisine looks like a jumped-up takeaway, which is probably because Goan Cuisine is a jumped-up takeaway, but it is also a family-run place serving amazing, home-style Goan food. If you are a lover of rich, genuine, unpretentious dishes, you should set your sights on the east and start off now.
The starters are simple. Go straight for the patties (£2 for four). These are rather like spring rolls with a good, rich, lamb filling and a delicate pastry. The accompanying green chutney - finely ground coriander, coconut, tamarind water, jaggery (a coarse brown sugar) - gets an unequivocal 'best ever' tag. You can use up the chutney with the potato 'chops' (£2 for four). These are the size of ice-hockey pucks. Break through the crisp coat and a layer of decent mashed potato, and there's savoury lamb mince in the middle.
The mains are a revelation. Ordering Goan sausage (£4.25) brings a bowl with several lengths of robust sausage and a thin, red gravy that has a tang of palm vinegar to vie with the chilli heat and onions. Fish lovers will approve of the amot tik (£3.75), which is a sour and hot curry made from chunks of 'rock fish' (who knows?) with tamarind, chilli and kokum - those little, dark, dried, sour plums. Or there's mackerel rechard (£4) - a whole mackerel stuffed with spicy masala and pan-fried. King fish caldeen (£4) is chunky white fish in a rich gravy flavoured with coconut and coriander seeds.
For meat, turn to ardd mass (£4.25) - little chunks of pork (on the bone and complete with fatty bits and skin) have been cooked slowly in a rich gravy, and, although this is not a hot dish, a delightful spiciness comes through. The 'dish of dishes' is the sorpotel (£3.75). It is amazing. The meat is diced finely and includes representatives from almost every corner of the pig; doubtless there are lots of bits in there you'd rather not know about. Everything is cooked slowly in a sauce made with palm vinegar, chillies, garlic and ginger. The resulting dish is so very good that you seriously consider cancelling everything else and ordering a couple more portions. It's worth trying the sannas (£2 for four) by way of accompaniment. These are airy cakes (hockey pucks again) of steamed rice - great for mopping up gravy. For refreshment, you have the run of a large refrigerator which contains various beers and dodgy bottles of arak. There is also a Goan spirit that is spoken of in hushed tones by the hardest of hard drinkers: caju feni (which translates as raw rubbing alcohol with rotting cashew nuts). Goan Cuisine is a terrific restaurant. It's too small, too cheap and way, way too good to be hidden away out east.
Address: 136 Plumstead High Street, London SE18 1JQ.
By car: Refer to "AtoZ" map. Park on either of the side roads: Barth Rd. or Kentmere Rd.
By train: From London Charing Cross station, take the train to Dartford via Abbeywood. Get off at Plumstead station. As you leave the station, turn right, and walk down the High Street, past the fire station and you're there!
By bus: The following buses stop within a minute walk from Goan Cuisine: 96, 99, 177, 180, 422 and 469.
