The hidden delights of Tooting

I used to live close to Tooting until I was 18, a fact that sometimes I’d rather not reveal. The inner snob says it’s something that I shouldn’t proudly exclaim to every Tom, Dick or Harry.

However, recently my friends and I have realised it’s hidden wealth of culinary pleasures; budget Indian, Halal and West Indian deli’s and small but friendly curry cafes with fabulous food at half the cost of an Indian restaurant located in a more desirable area. Although Indian food is not my favourite cuisine I am always up for being impressed by a new dish and like to discover new places that are out of my comfort zone.

After driving through Tooting on the way to visit a friend in Clapham Common we decided to stop off at one of the many restaurants. Myself and Roisin had been looking out of the window Oooooing and ahhhhing at them all.

“Ohhhhhhhhh look that place is painted red!” I said.

Hard pushed to choose, we chose the red restaurant.

“Ohh but I want Indian sweets from that shop from over the road!” I moaned under my breath, spoilt cow that I am. But it was voted that we’d do that another time!

Once seated in a plastic chair at a table which reminded me of my school dinner years I held my menu typed with TimesNewRoman font and glanced around. This was a pretty basic place. However it was clean, full of locals and decorated with attractive posters of Gods.

We  ordered a selection curry’s; Chicken Tikka Masala, lamb and beef with a side order of three different types of naan bread: garlic, cheese and lamb with coriander. Although Indian food is not my favourite cuisine I could still tell that the quality of the food was A1. Our bill came to just over a tenner between four of us.

Roisin drinking Ice Cream Soda!

  

The sweet shop over the road

 It was 9pm, we’d become side-tracked and my friend was texting me to ask where on earth I was. We’d just payed the bill and made towards the outside of the restaurant.

“The Christmas lights are up already!” I screeched!

“Nop, that’s their Eid celebratory decorations Claire.”

Oops. So it was. But what really caught my eye over the road was the bright lights of a shop displaying of a colourful counter full of sweets and cakes. We ran over and opened the door. I immediately got my camera out and began asking questions about what was in each cake.

“Have you got pistachio?”

“Um,” he grumbled and pointed half-heartedly at a block of green sweets that looked like humongous Turkish delights.

“Erm, what about this one? Have you got coconut at all?”

“Coconut the pink one,” he said; eyes fixed at the television screen above the counter.

“OK I’ll take the pistachio.”

“One?”

“Yes.”

“Hm.”

“And that one,” after which he decided that he would choose for me.

Fine I thought. I wasn’t going to get any more information from him anyway. I would have to do some guess work instead. What a grump. I payed £5.49 for 6 which isn’t too bad for a one off treat.

Back in the car, we opened the colourful box which compensated for his inadequacy, and peeled back the layer of foil to reveal 6 balls and squares of colourful sweets. I had a mouthful of my pink coconut sweet. Wow. It really was a required taste and although I’m not one to put on weight I can imagine gaining a stone after gobbling down just a couple of them! 

All in all, an interesting experience and worth a visit. It should be remembered that this area is considered their community and there seems to be a slight laziness in explaining the contents of the dishes to people who aren’t used to their cuisine. But a bit of persistence and you’ll be fine! I can imagine that a few of the restaurants would make an unusual place for a birthday gathering. Next door to our restaurant was a place decorated with fairy lights with low-rising wooden beams which gave a cosy ambiance.

Next time: Brick Lane has more to offer than just the Indian restaurants it’s known for; I can’t wait to check out the Moroccan and Lebanese cafes that I remember visiting a few years back.

Claire

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