London Road Roundup [London]
I'll keep adding to this as I go but here are the first two...
Newly opened Sharerin still lacks a sign and if one goes in at 2am you'll find the owners sorting through online pictures of Iraqi Kurdistan trying to figure out what to put on one, but the food is solid homestyle Kurdish fair at extremely low prices. They're also open until 3am or later which is fantastic if you're in the area. 6.50 can get you a glass of excellent homemade ayran with tarragon, roast lamb, rice, bread, zucchini stew, etc. The staff are extremely friendly and I basically chatted away with them about Iraqi Kurdistan for two hours the second time I ate there. Their Kurdish kebabs are also good and very reasonably priced. Both above meals came with soup too! They've got a sheesha garden in the back too.
Taste of Kerala is a bit further down the London Rd and it's probably the best Keralan place I've been to besides Thattukada. An inspiring first visit included seriously good sardine fry, sardine curry and thali componenets (including aviyal, cabbage, etc.) On that visit, the fish beat out Thattukada on equivalent dishes while the veg was better at Thattu. A repeat visit was much less inspiring, but I'm gonna give it another go. A good but small portion of netholi fry for the price was not quite Thattukada level at all while king fish curry was simply bad. Mutton biriyani was OK, but the biriyani in general is world's better at Thattukada. Their menu is extensive and the clientele are literally all Keralan though.
