Elephant Walk
our comments
Londoner’s are well versed in the language of mainstream Indian dishes – chicken tikka masala, bahjia, samosa, and if you’re a true devotee you might even know what idly and masala thosai are. But Sri Lankan food is a lesser spotted cuisine in the capital, characterised by its use of fiery flavours, and its signature dish the hopper. For the uninitiated, hoppers are made from fermented rice flour and come in many different shapes and sizes such as plain, egg and milk. (This information would have been useful to me a week earlier for a particularly tricky food quiz – grrrr.)
Fortunately for West Hampstead residents, sampling some of the best Sri Lankan cuisine around is easy, thanks to husband and wife team Deepthe Rajapakse and Kannan Sivanthan and the Elephant Walk. Since opening last year, it’s received some good press, including the seal of approval from curry connoisseur Charles Campion, who named it “one of the three best new comers in the London.”
It’s your typical no frills type of local restaurant, without a whiff of pretension. Simple dark tables, red walls and bare floorboards create a café atmosphere that doesn’t really lend itself to lingering. But it’s definitely not the atmosphere that keeps a steady stream of locals popping in. The extensive menu is a whistle stop tour of the subtleties and intricacies of Sri Lankan food, with popular Southern Indian dishes like the light savoury pancake masala dosai, and a selection of thalis.
We started with a typical Sri Lankan dish - tuna cutlet, described on the menu as a crunchy snack filled with tuna, potato and spices. It did exactly what it did on the tin – crunched. This was accompanied by a peculiar dish of hopper and egg, served with a good spicy sambar, which is a popular breakfast dish in Sri Lanka. I wasn’t sure about its merits as a dinner dish, however it was a good introduction for a hopper virgin. This was followed by an excellent, dense lamb Kothu rotti, or shredded flat bread with spice and served with a sweet and sour onion relish.
A rather good Vattilappam – or a burnt crème caramel to you and me - was subtly spiced with cinnamon, giving it a Christmassy taste. This was followed up by a couple of high-octane arracks, the most popular alcoholic beverage in Sri Lanka, which is apparently a big hit with those diners who’d discovered the spirit on their travels through Sri Lanka. Not sure it would be my first choice of a post dinner digestif, but it certainly did the trick in ensuring I left the restaurant feeling nicely squiffy. All and all, Elephant Walk is a great local restaurant deserving of its reputation, and a great addition to West Hampstead.
M.S. - June 2007
your comments review this restaurant and win a bottle of champagne
Visited for the first time this weekend. Friendly service and nice dining space although the tables are a little small and a bit close together. Most of the other diners seemed to have visited before. As for the food - Starters were small-ish and of mixed results - the lamb rolls are potato croquettes with a lamb filling but okay with a great (although small) dipping sauce, the egg 'hopper' is a rigid pancake shaped like a bowl with a fried egg in - a bit bland, Onion bhajis were standard. The mains were a mixed pair - the Hoppers with a chicken curry is a good plate containing the Hoppers - think spicy Singapore vermicelli, the chicken curry and some relishes. The other dish we had was the devilled lamb which was less interesting but okay.
This with a couple of beers each came to £30 per head - This is West Hampstead so it's priced to suit the clientele. I'm not sure if I'd go back - it's a little expensive for South Indian food - I'd probably travel the extra mile to go to Geeta's in Kilburn. Saying that the service and ambience are really good and it always takes a couple of visits to assess the strengths of any restaurant so maybe.
Comment on this reader review
Rex
Overall rating 
Food 7 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Went to Elephant Walk for dinner for the second time on Saturday 26th July 2008. As before we had a great authentic Sri Lankan meal. really good, friendly service with good quality Sri Lankan food. I feel that its always good to champion good quality local restaurants, and this is a great venue on the West Hampstead/West End Lane scene. as other reviewers have stated, its not, perhaps, the ideal place for a lingering 1st date, but the food is fantastic. try the hoppers - they are very good. and the sri lankan curries - perfectly balanced for flavour and spice. very good un-pretentious service in simple surroundings, perhaps, but its the food that makes it. and for London - i feel its great value. give it a try. its far superior to the other north London Indo/chinese restaurants.
Comment on this reader review
Patrick
Overall rating 
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Went there last night with my husband - fell upon it and thought we would give it a try. Food was fantastic, prompt service and lovely staff. The lamb rolls and fish cutletts are a must.
Will go again!
Comment on this reader review
Shine
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Elephant Walk has an extremely friendly atmosphere - we were welcomed with huge smiles and were treated to delicious Sri Lankan food. We found the staff to be very helpful at explaining menu items. Having been to Sri Lanka, we also found the food to be authentic. We would particularly recommend the string hoppers which come in a number of varieties. All curries can also be cooked as mild or spicy as you want, as everything is cooked to order, and so it is very easy to customise your curry.
Whilst the service was a little slow, even for drinks, this did not take away from our enjoyment of the restaurant and overally we would definitely recommend it.
Comment on this reader review
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Friday, July 04, 2008
lovely to have a slice of sri lanka and south indian food available. the food was tasty, spices done to perfection and a joy to eat. the staff were all wonderfully helpful, friendly and yet not too imposing. will definately return!
Comment on this reader review
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Friday, June 27, 2008
Very friendly service, good food, reasonably priced, good location, highly recommended.
Comment on this reader review
D. Keylock
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Sunday, June 08, 2008
I had read mixed reviews so I was interested to see what I found when I went there myself.
Its a little spartan with shiny table tops and the tables themselves are rather small if you order more than a couple of dishes.
Like all sri lankan restaurants the service is a little haphazard like the attempt to put my red wine on ice!!! Its very friendly though. There were only a couple of others eating at 9 pm on a Thursday which was a pity.
The food is tasty but the portions are rather small for someone like me with a good appetite. The masalla dosai was rather filled with lumps of potato rather then the spiced mashed potato I get at the three other similar restaurants in Kilburn. I prefer the others!
The bill with a 1/2 bottle of house wine was about £25 per head which was rather more than I had expected when ordering. It was certainly not a degustation but rather a fairly ordinary starter, main, side and rice etc.
Its certainly worth trying but its not everyones cup of tea and seems rather expensive for the smallish portions they serve. Not really a romantic venue but more of a quick meal if you are not too hungry.
Comment on this reader review
Tony Glazier - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating 
Food 7 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 6
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Elephant Walk is a great local restaurant; I have never had a disappointing dish and the staff and manager are always gracious, welcoming and up for a chat. Service can be a bit slow occasionally, but nowhere's perfect.
My tips would be don't pass up on the starters - the vadai are great, as are the samosas - light and crispy (not at all like the greasy efforts that one can get offered at other places). We rarely stray beyond the Sri Lankan specialities, though the thosai are good, and the dry aubergine curry side dish is a must.
It's good value too which, as a Yorkshireman, matters to me! (Though this should not be read as 'dirt cheap' as this is a quality establishment). Oh, and everyone I've ever taken there loves it too. In fact, writing this review has made me decide to pop in on the way home...
Comment on this reader review
- View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 8
Monday, February 04, 2008
There was nothing special about this restaurant. Staff were friendly, although weren't informative about the dishes on the menu - so choosing was pot luck. As a result my girlfriend ended up with a dish she really didn't enjoy, but mine was distinctly average, and I've had better for a lot less. We both had the items from the specials, basically an average curry with noodles/rice etc and other bits (crisps, side dip, salad) dotted around on a large plate.
To sum up, different from your local curry house but it’s not great. I can now see why Indians are more common than Sri Lankans. I won't be going back, and won't recommend this restaurant unless someone is desperate to try a curry with a twist.
I was dissapointed with the good reviews on this site, as this is the reason why we went to this restaurant in the first place.
Comment on this reader review
Rob Jackson
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Fantastic restaurant. Delicious food and lovely staff. Thoroughly enjoy myself everytime I visit the restaurant. Everyone I ever take to the restaurant says what amazing food it is and is very good value too.
Comment on this reader review
Lizzi
Overall rating 
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, January 19, 2008
