North East Veggie Curry

Dosa Kitchen Rear of 7 Osborne Road, Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 2AE www.dosakitchenuk.co.uk  /  dosakitchenuk@gmail.com The UK's love of Indian street food shows little sign of abating, so I suppose it was only a question of time before a restaurant specialising in dosas opened in Newcastle. In fact Dosa Kitchen, the latest entrant into the Jesmond food scene, was already operating in the city as a pop-up restaurant in Newcastle's West End – during which time it had garnered some praise. It's move to permanent premises has therefore been greeted with some interest. The restaurant itself is in the former Longhorns Smokehouse tucked away in a lane behind Osborne Road and is an open airy loft on the first floor, with exposed beams and a simple, spartan interior of plain wooden furniture, wooden floors and distressed timber cladding on the walls. It's informality is appealing and matches the menu admirably. It's worth noting that Dosa Kitc

Cafe Spice 111, Chillingham Road, Heaton Newcastle NE6 5XL (0191) 265 6565     www.cafespicenewcastle There is no shortage of food options on the busy Chillingham Road in Newcastle's populous east End, though only a handful are what you'd call proper sit-down restaurants. Cafe Spice, which sits on a prominent corner site at the Byker end of 'Chilly Road', is probably the first restaurant you'll come to. You'd be excused for thinking it was two separate restaurants side by side. One side was empty on the night we were there, but we discovered that this was an additional dining area connected via an internal door for use on busier nights. Must be busy, then – good sign. Once inside and it is all rather attractive, with subdued lighting, painted wood floors, rich wall coverings, lots of ornate mirrors. The effect is playfully exotic, modern yet traditional. Unlike Newcastle's West End, there is a much smaller Asian community in the East