Kovalam

The food at Kovalam is excellent. From the outside, the restaurant does not appear impressive. The interior decor is also a bit tired. But the food is top class. Simply excellent. And the service is also very good - staff are very obliging and friendly.
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sarah
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 10
Sunday, March 09, 2008

This restaurant is absolutely amazing, not onli my opinion but my other collegues appreciate spending money in a restaurant, rather than a pub!!. I had tried the crab curry and fish curry and they are stunning. It's inevitable to taste such beutiful delacacies.
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Young money - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Thursday, June 14, 2007

Kovalam serves authentic Kerala cuisine. I tried the Crab curry and chicken chilly and they were simply amazing. Highly recommended Indian restaurant in London.
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Sat
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Saturday, May 19, 2007

Whenever the stomach begins to get holiday-sick, and memories of glorious sunshine and wonderful food bombard the brain (and bore all your friends) it's nice to know I can pop along to this truly wonderful food heaven and immerse myself in real South Indian food cooked to perfection.

Throw familiarity to the wind, leave the Bangladeshi staples for another day, and dive into the authentic cuisine of the South; the Kingfish curry (meen moli) and the vegetable thorans (beetroot & coconut/cabbage thoran) are a pleasure to munch. The dosas are fresh, plentiful and remind one so much of that faraway land.

This is one of those rare eating experiences where feeling full-up (and you certainly will eat well) doesn't mean feeling over-full. Although full, you also feel, and know, that you've eaten a very healthy meal, indeed.

In fact; you can actually taste the sun.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Thursday, January 26, 2006

I love this place. For one thing it's hard to get decent South Indian food in London without a pretentious trendy atmosphere. None of that here! Decor is standardish curry house - red crapet and bizarre neon lights, with bad music. The food makes up for it though. The 'English' Indian dishes (tikka masalas etc) are done well enough, but I rarely resist getting dosas, avial or fish curry, which are all wonderful. And cheap too.

It's much better than the S. Indian joint in W hampstead - more authentic food and no arsey service. I'd recommend this to everyone but then i'd never be able to get a table!
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Although Kovalam serve standard curries, essentially they specialises in Malabar cuisine.

The fish curries (esp. Kingclip) and vegetable thorans are the top side of excellent.

Dishes are stir-fried rather than shallow fried. So, the orange oil - Ghee - you may find floating on many curries is, happily absent.

Kovalam also use curry leaves fairly generously, giving the food a texture and flavour easily distinguishable from the run-of-the-mill ground spices used in most bad curry houses.

The interior of the restaurant isn't particularly awe inspiring; the prices more than make up for this. (£30 for 2 w/drinks).

In short: go, but be adventureous. Choose the fish and Thorans, not Masala and Bombay aloo.
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paul w
Wednesday, November 09, 2005