Food Food Food: From Restaurant to the Street
Southall has a variety of restaurants and street food that you surely do not want to miss!
Chaudhry’s TKC Restaurant
Address: 161 – 163 The Broadway, Southall, Middlesex UB1 1LR
Website: www.tkcgroup.com
According to the restaurant’s website, its former name is Tandoori Kebab Centre which was launched in 1965. It is proud to be Southall’s first and famous eatery. The restaurant was established to cater to both the Anglo Indian community and the South Asian groups who just came to the UK from the Indian Subcontinent.
The menu is a combination of both Chinese Cuisine and Pakistani cuisine. The restaurant’s Lahori chef worked with Chef Teng from Guangdong province to develop the menu. It was one of the pioneers of halal Chinese in Britain. Chinese ingredients are combined with Pakistani spices to create flavorful and aromatic dishes.
While waiting for my food, the waiter served me a basket of prawn crackers and a salad plate. These two starters were complimentary. I had Tandoori Mix Grill which included seekh kebab, chicken tikka, lamb tikka,chicken wings & lamb chops cooked in a tandoor, a clay oven.
Gifto’s Lahore Karahi
Address: 162-164 The Broadway, Southall, Middlesex.
Website: http://www.gifto.com/
According to the restaurant website, Gifto’s is regarded as the best Pakistani restaurant in Southall where diners can enjoy delicious authentic dishes. The restaurant was opened in 2010.
In the mid-1960s, Gifto’s was one of the very first ethnic grocery shops in Southall which provided typical South Asian ingredients such as exotic spices and different types of beans and peas. As time passed and the business expanded, Gifto’s became a famous provider of finest Indian and Pakistani spices as well as high quality ingredients. Suffice to say, Gifto’s is a well-known family business in Southall, which has been serving the community for more than 50 years.
The restaurant is located at the west end of The Broadway. It has a very modern look and cozy design which aims to provide a place for family and friends gathering or for young people to hang out. The restaurant is spacious which can probably host up to 200 customers. There is an open kitchen so you can see what the chefs are making.
The menu is a combination of different South Asian food with a focus on Lahori dishes. I ordered a Karahi Gosht and naan. Naan is a type of Indian oven-baked flat bread. Karahi /kəˈraɪ/ refers to a type of circular steep wok. It is often made of stainless steel, cast iron, or copper with a non-stick surface. Karahi is widely used in South Asian cuisine to deep fry meat, fish, vegetables, etc. Moreover, the wok is also used for stew dishes. Karahi Gosht is a mutton dish with spicy masala sauce which is very popular in the Pakistani cuisine.
Besides, I also tried a mango milkshake which was very good. This is a popular drink in the Indian subcontinent. You can also try another drink called lassi, a yogurt-based drink with milk, spices and either sweet or salty taste.
Street Food
As you walk along South Road and The Broad Way Streets, you will encounter small stalls of Indian street food. One of the most common ones is sweet corn. Each cup of corn is only £1 and it tastes really good. There are a variety of flavors that you can choose to add to your sweet corn such as Mexican chilli, garlic, Indian masala, cheese, salt and pepper, lemon dressing, curry flavor, bbq, etc.
Moreover, there are food stalls that sell other street food such as pani puri, samosa chatt, papdi chatt, kachori chatt, etc. Chatt means savory snacks that are sold at food stalls or food carts on the street in South Asian countries like India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh.
I tried a plate of 6 pani puris for £2.50 and they were very delicious. Pani puri, aka golgappa, is a common street snack in the Indian subcontinent. Puri, or poori, is a piece of bread in a small round shape made of unleavened wheat flour and deep-fried in oil. The bread is often served at breakfast or eaten as a snack with meat or vegetable. Pani means water. So Pani Puri is a round, hollow and crispy bread that filled with spiced water, mashed potato, tamarind chutney, chickpeas, chaat masala, and chilli.
You should also try the Kashmiri tea which is of course from Kashmir. The tea is known under many different names such as Noon Chai, Pink Tea, Sheer Chai, etc. It has a unique pink color. Unlike regular tea, this kind of tea is not sweet but instead salty. The tea leaves are cooked in a samovar with milk, salt, and water. You can drink the tea alone or have it with some Indian street food.
Sweet and Savouries
Sweet dessert distributors are prevalent in Southall. Two of the best known ones are the Jalebi Junction and Panji Sweet & Savouries.
Jalebi Junction
93 The Broadway, Southall, Middlesex UB1 1LN
Panji Sweet & Savouries
1 The Broadway, Southall, Middlesex UB1 1JR
These shops sell popular Indian sweets and savouries like ladoo, jalebi, barfi, samosas, kachori , etc. They offer pretty good deals for large purchases. When I look at the ladoos, it reminds of the protagonist who is known for her ladoos in the movie English Vinglish.
I had a chance to try jalebi. Jalebi has a shape like a pretzel. It is made from wheat flour and then deep fried and soaked in sugar syrup. I told the seller that I did not know how the jalebi tasted like and therefore I did not want to buy 5 of them (they only sell 5 at a time). The seller was very nice as he offered me one sample for free. However, after eating the jalebi, I did not like it. It was too sweet and oily for me. I offered to pay for the jalebi I ate because I felt bad if I ate and then ended up not buying anything. However, the seller smiled at me and told me that he would not take the money. Next time, I may come back and try the jalebi one more time.
Indian Food Walk
To get the most out of your experience in Southall, you can sign up for the Indian Food Walk tour offered by Monisha Bharadwaj. Monisha grew up in Mumbai and moved to London when she was 22. She is an award winning chef and food writer with a specialty in journalism and Indian dance. She is also the author of many popular cooking books. With her specialized knowledge about Indian cultures and cuisine, Monisha will take the tourists through a food journey in Southall, exploring ethnic supermarkets with exotic ingredients, tradition Indian food and street snacks.
She will also tell you about the history of the neighborhood and people there. You will learn more about the migrant communities, their religions and ways of life. Her knowledge of Bollywood movies, fashion, music, and especially food is profound. Questions are always welcome and Monisha is more than happy to answer them all.
The tour is offered on specific dates of the year for £15 and lasts for 2 hours. Check the following website for more details.
To know what the experience is like from those who actually did the tour, you can refer to these blogs/ reviews:
