Kate and I had to go to London so we figured that we could combine obligation with a little bit of sightseeing, some shopping, and a lot of eating. We stayed close to Paddington Station so I spent a lot of time Googling and Happy Cowing (well, it should be a thing) vegan eateries in the area. Strangely thin on the ground once you rule out menus full of raw food or other dishes Kate wouldn’t touch with a barge pole. Kate does like one thing however, and that is South Indian food. So off we went to  vegetarian India restaurant Woodlands. We rocked up to the Marylebone location on Friday night and prepared for a feast.

At this point I’d like to apologise for the pictures. The lighting was bad and so is my camera. I really wanted to talk about this place though because I loved the food. We ordered from a few places around the vegan menu (PDF) and started with the incredible Chatt Bombs. Tangy, tasty and full of tamarind. Sev is always welcome on my plate and pomegranate seeds added a welcome burst of freshness.

We also split an order of Idli. Kate couldn’t decide if the pillow like texture was a good thing or a bad thing. I’m firmly on the side of good thing. Undeniably the sambar is a good thing. I can see why they have extra portions on the menu. I could have drunk it down. I restrained myself though. Gotta have your best manners on when you are in the nation’s capital.

On to mains then. We needed dosas; who doesn’t, right? We split an order of the masala dosa with rice and lentil batter. Classic. I thought it was a little underdone in the middle but the taste was good and it came with more sambar. So can’t complain too much.

Considering we were trying a few we things we thought we’d order our old standby of Sagg Aloo. Just in case. As it turned out that was a bad idea. Kate, as we’ve mentioned before, is not a chilli fan. She can tolerate a little heat but it was rather hot. It was right in the middle of my comfort zone. I loved it in fact. Kate was a little overheated though.

Mixed review then. Me, I recommend Woodlands on the strength of the chatt and sambar. Kate doesn’t recommend it because of the strength of the chillies.