Dosa Kitchen, Newcastle

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 Kitchen doesn't have a phone line, so you have to book a table via their website. This is pretty straightforward and at least it gives you chance to peruse their menu.

The reason you come to Dosa Kitchen is for the dosas, which are a type of thin pancake made from de-husked black lentil flour and rice flour, similar to a French crepe but somewhat larger. These are served either plain or more often filled with a range of delicious fillings. Originally from the Tamil Nadu region of southern India, these feather-light breads are now served all over India and beyond. Much of their popularity rests on the fact that they are perfect for eating on the street - they can be eaten much like a tortilla wrap – but in a restaurant setting they are equally at home either in the hand or on a plate with a knife and fork.

South Indian cuisine is central to the Dosa Kitchen menu so there are a number of dishes that might look unfamiliar. But before we get to the dosas, there's a vegetarian starter menu. This has six items, four of which feature medhu vada, fluffy, crispy lentil doughnuts (for want of a better description) made with onion, fresh coriander, curry leaves, green chillis and black pepper which are then served in a variety of ways.

Our group chose three to share – the plain medhu vada (soft, warming, fragrant and delicious), the somewhat drier masala perupu vada (dry, crunchy, very lentil-y) and sambar vada (everyone's favourite – fluffy vada soaked in hot and absolutely delicious light and spicy dahl). Each came with a dish of fresh coconut chutney, a spicy tomato chutney and more of the sambar. We could quite happily have repeated this course, but we pressed on to explore the rest of the menu.

Normally, you'd head straight for the main course now, but this form of eating is a lot less formal. You could decide to have a dosa, of course, or perhaps something from the tiffin menu instead (all veggie) such as uttapam, which are thick fluffy and crispy pancakes, or idli which are steamed rice and lentil dumplings. You could include a dish of vegetable curry to make it a little more substantial, or opt for a veggie 'tuk-tuk' kothu parota which is a dish of freshly made flaky parotas made with onions, tomatoes, chilli and spices and served with carrot, beans and cauliflower.

We'd come to sample the dosas so we chose a selection – masala, which is filled with soft spicy potato, onion which has a spicy onion filling, and variations on the two. You can choose to add potato masala, Gunpowder spice mix, fresh coriander and fresh green chillis to your dosa for 50p extra, so I chose the Gunpowder for mine.

The dosas are big. They come not on a plate but on a stainless steel tray and yet they still hang over the edge. Rolled up like a wrap, they are light and crispy as the ends but softer in the middle thanks to the generous filling. They come with more of the chutneys we'd enjoyed with our starters, and I also chose the only veggie curry on the menu as an accompaniment, a delicious vegetable kuruma which had big chunks of lightly-cooked potato, onion, beans and carrot in a beautifully spiced and well-balanced tomato-based sauce.

This is very much a hands-on operation. We tore off chunks of the dosa and used them to scoop mouthfuls of the curry into our mouths, pausing occasionally to dip pieces into the tomato chutney and the universally-popular sambar. It's a little messy unless you've had practice and it's not terribly elegant, but it's great fun and the dosas are absolutely delicious. The Gunpowder mix I opted for wasn't nearly as fierce as I'd expected – instead it added an extra depth and vibrance to the flavour of the mild and fragrant potato masala. And they are filling, too.

It is worth mentioning the drinks menu. There's a good selection of wines varieties including a few less-common options such as malbec and gewurtztraminer, and there's some pretty decent craft beers, too. I tried the Chola Kings draught ale from the nearby Wylam Brewery, a light citrusy pilsner-style beer which is brewed specifically for Dosa Kitchen and which worked perfectly with the food. There was also a range of coolers, one of which (the Chilli Ginger) quickly developed a cult following on our table.

Dosa Kitchen has an interesting and unfamiliar menu, but it's the quality of the food that really stands out. Nothing we ordered disappointed, everything was beautifully cooked, filled with vibrant flavours and utterly delicious. This is simple food which is clearly prepared with great pride and with a level of skill that raises it far above the level of the street. The veggie choice is extensive, and the combination of the food, the relaxed atmosphere and the faultless service combined to make this a great night out. This is one restaurant we'll definitely be returning to.