Chennai Lounge, Southsea Marina, Fort Cumberland Road, Southsea, Hampshire. PO4 9RJ
South Indian food
comes to Hampshire
30th October, 2010
Reviewed by Dominique Chapman
Chennai Lounge, opened just 4 weeks ago, by Bangladeshi chef patron (name). He owns one or two restaurants in and around Portsmouth, which serve good Bangladeshi curry house food. After meeting a fellow chef, who came from Madras, (name) decided that he wanted to bring a different side of the Indian subcontinent to the area and Chennai Lounge was conceived. (name) has worked very hard to re-create the delicate flavours of South India and this shows in his short but precise menu.
The restaurant is situated on the ground floor of Southsea Marina's club house. It has picture windows on three sides, enabling diners to admire, on a fine day, the natical views. Decorated in burnt red, with embroidered wall hangings, open kitchen and stainless steel bar, a feel of modern and relaxed India can be enjoyed.
We ordered, 'Popadoms and Chutneys £2.50.' The Popadoms were freshly cooked, warm and crisp. The chutneys were delivered on a hand carved wooden tray containing three, white china bowls. The first, Coconut Sambol - the soft, white flesh grated, then fried with whole curry leaves, slivers of red chilli and mustard seed. The second, Cacumber (onion salad) - made with small cubes of red onion, expensive but an original twist to the regular white onion condiment, and Imli - tamarind, flavoured with chat masala (including black salt), thick, tangy, sweet and sour.
There are seven vegetarian and five non-vegetarain starters. We decided to share and started with a plate of, 'Pani Puri £4.50 hollow puri, fried crisp and filled with a mixture of water, tamarind, fresh green chilli, chat masala, potato, onion and chickpeas.' That's two of them in the photograph above. All dishes are served on fashionable white china, with different styles for different dishes. Our starter was delivered on a huge oval plate. Five little whole wheat globes stood, stuffed with the delicious spicy combination. They were drizzled with thick plain yoghurt and tamarind chutney, and accompanied by a dressed green salad of lambs lettuce and cucumber. We wasted no time in devouring them, fairly cutting the last one into two, as five doesn't divide!
Other favourite starters include: 'Aloo Tikka Chat £4.50 - potato cakes topped with yoghurt, tamarind suace and sev,' and 'Chicken Lollipop £4.95 - drumstick stuffed with marinated paneer, breaded and deep-fried.' I'll try these two next time. Well, I'll press-gang Pat into ordering the former and then I can enjoy the latter (he is not keen on chicken), I like both, so can't wait!
For mains, I spotted an old favourite, 'Chettinad Chicken £7.95 - pieces of tender breast fillet cooked in simmered coconut milk with chef's spices, blended red chilli and curry leaves.' A good, tasty curry, of generous portion, but a little too much coconut milk for me. Pat opted for a, 'Tomato Rasam £3.95 - a heart-warmingly spicy lentil based tomato soup.' This was delivered in a beautiful and very large, square white bowl. It was a little too thick in texture. Rasam is supposed to be a consommé not a potage, but the flavours were wonderful. To accompany the soup, he chose a South Indian classic, 'Masala Dosa £6.95 - crushed baby potatoes, lightly spiced, mixed with curry leaves, mustard seeds and broken peppercorns.' Rice pancakes are notoriously difficult to cook. On this occassion, the urid flour pancake was too thick, but the taste was there. Pat asked for spicy, and he got exactly that. All Dosas are served with Sambhar Curry, traditionally containing drumsticks and Tomato Chutney. Both were lovely.
Our meal was accompanied by, 'Suka Aloo £2.95 - baby potatoes steamed with mustard, curry leaves and cummin seed,' and 'Chawal £2.95 - plain rice.' Both, freshly cooked and served in reasonable portions.
As we ate and chatted to the waiter about Bangladesh, Biman Airways and curry, lucky yachts-men and yachts-women came in, dressed in their fashionable sau'westers, sat and perused the menu, drinking large bottles of beer.
We finished our meal off, by sharing a generous bowl of warm Cardamom Rice Pudding - delicious!
Hours: 5pm to 10.30pm, closed Mondays.
Facilities: Free Parking, Disabled Access, 20% Discount on Takeaway Orders.
Chennia Lounge, Fine South Indian Cuisine, Southsea Marina, Fort Cumberland, Southsea, Hampshire. PO4 9RJ. Tel: 023 9281 7493
Photo Above Right and Photo Above Left: '...open kitchen and stainless steel bar, a feel of modern and relaxed India can be enjoyed.' Photo Below Right: 'Masala Dosa £6.95 - crushed baby potatoes, lightly spiced, mixed with curry leaves, mustard seeds and broken peppercorns,' and Photo Below Left: 'Suka Aloo £2.95 - baby potatoes steamed with mustard, curry leaves and cummin seed.'
