Rasa Travancore

Bad bad bad. Avoid. I am a huge Rasa fan - however I have only been to the vegetarian Rasa, which sits on the other side of the road from this Rasa. On a Saturday night 'vegetarian Rasa' was full. Rather than waiting 30 minutes we popped across the road to 'evil Rasa', assuming this place would be of similar quality. Next time I will wait 30 minutes.

Firstly, while the space is larger with more seating, it does not have the same atmosphere at vegetarian Rasa. Yet this was the least of the issues. We ordered the same starters as we have at the other Rasa, and there were no issues with these. Before we had finished the poppadum 'snack mix', the waiter took it away. That was fine with us, as we assumed the mains were ready to come out. However there was nothing for 20 minutes. Straight after our poppadums were removed a couple who arrived well after us, and had finished their starter, recieved their mains (oddly similar to ours...).

After 20 minutes I asked a waited if our mains were coming. He assured me all was ok. I checked against 10 minutes later, still ok. When the other couple were finishing up their mains (they had arrived after us!), I went to the main service area and asked again. They tried to fob me off, however I politely pointed out that the other couple had finished their mains which were similar to ours, and could there have been a mix up (ie: they made one of a similar order rather than 2!). Easy in a busy restaurant, and we were quite relaxed about this.

However the killer was that the guy who looked like he was the manager on duty that night pretended to look into orders then assured me that the kitchen was just busy, and that the other couple had been served first because they had not had starters. Now this was not the best statement, as I had been stickybeaking on their interesting looking starters!

I am still stunned that a reputable restaurant would not simply apologise for its error and fix it. Instead an outright lie. What else are the lying about in there? The mains came out a few minutes after this. They were two fish curries. One was below average, one was really quite nice, neither made up for the service. I will not be returning here. A real let down to the great Rasa chain.
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restaurant_hopper - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 4
Monday, July 14, 2008

Rasa Travancore resides on the other side of Stoke Newington High Street to the original Rasa vegetarian restaurant but includes fish and meat offerings.

I had previously eaten at the original Rasa a number of times before, with some friends who are strict vegetarians and enjoyed the varied menu and good food. Unfortunately, the same can not be said of Rasa Travancore - at least not on the Monday night in April when I first stepped through Travancore's door.

The Nadan Kozhy Curry -- described as Kerala's most common curry -- was somewhat insipid and reminiscent of what might be served up in a works canteen. The Koottu parippu -- lentil dahl - was tasteless and watery and the Travancore kayi curry - veggie curry - would best be described as a coconut milk stew.

I get no joy from writing the above and my girlfriend and I were extremely disappointed in a chain that has gained a good reputation in London for its curry excellence. On the plus side the parathas were light and tasty, the decor nice, staff friendly and efficient and the Cobra beer nicely chilled -- but in my honest opinion that is simply not enough (at this price) and my advice would be to give Travancore's sub-standard food a wide berth and stick to Rasa's veggie option on the sunnier side of Stokey High street!
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Paul H
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Went there for the first time last weekend (it's definitely worth booking on a Saturday btw). Excellent food, quite different in style to most Indian restaurants in London. The 'pre-meal snacks' in particular are a world away from the typical drab poppadums and pickles. Comments above about the fuschia decor are spot on, but as long as this doesn't offend your senses, you will enjoy a great meal here. And at £20/head with wine, it won't dent your wallet too much either.
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Gareth
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, March 27, 2007

A little piece of heaven in N16! Can't recommend this place enough.
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Kerry
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, December 08, 2006

This place really does live up to the rave reviews below. The four course feast is great value at £20, the food being very fresh, subtly flavoured and beautifully presented. I wouldn't normally be that thrilled about a 15% service charge being added but the service was so friendly and efficient that it is justified. The food here includes not only traditional vegetarian Keralan dishes but Syrian Christian meat and fish dishes completely unlike the usual curry house fare. If you don't go, you're missing something great !
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IC - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Sunday, April 16, 2006

Have been going here for 3 years and it never fails to deliver-especially on a cold winters evening-the fishermans soup will warm anyone up.
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Elliot
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Friday, November 25, 2005