How cheap is too cheap?

How cheap is too cheap?

I wondered that when I noticed the Indian vegetarian restaurant offering an all-you-can-eat buffet for £4.95 at lunchtimes, £5.95 in the evening. This is in central London, near Russell Square and not far from St Pancras - an area popular with tourists and not known for its bargain food. So I wondered what the quality of such cheap food would be like. On the upside, cheap vegetarian food is probably safer than cheap meat. Cheap vegetables usually means heavy use of things like pulses and potatoes, which is less offputting than most aspects of cheap meat.

Anyway, greed combined with love for a bargain meant that not long afterwards I was seated in Vegetarian's Paradise (yes, it actually is called that) and uttering the words "I'll have the buffet, please". And about 30 seconds later I was helping myself.

The food looked reasonable - a couple of starter-type dishes (pakoras and bhajis), salad, and a good array of chutneys, pickles and yoghurt to have on the side. There were poppadoms, and two or three types of bread including naan. There was plain rice, fried rice and thin noodles cooked with vegetables.There were four main dishes, including a mushroom and potato curry, a mixed bean curry, lentil daal and a mixed vegetable curry.

It wasn't gourmet cuisine, but it was perfectly reasonable: not too oily, although the mushroom and potato curry was heavy on the sauce. I thought the daal had a really nice flavour (daal is pretty thrifty however you make it). Several of the dishes could have been done with being hotter.

I'd consumed a healthy amount by this time but managed to find room for some dessert - Indian rice pudding, gulab jamun (fried milk balls in syrup) and a tiny bit of halva. They were just as good as more expensive versions I have had elsewhere.

At the next table there was a man working his way efficiently through a plate of salad by way of starter, then a substantial plate of curry, then a bowl of syrup balls and rice pudding, with the air of a man who had done this more than once before. And at under £6, why not?

There is an a la carte menu too - the table next to us seemed to be enjoying their thali, though some of their dishes did resemble what was on the buffet. Drinks are reasonably priced - I had a mango lassi for £2.10. I didn't notice any alcoholic drinks, but on the other hand I wasn't looking for them.

The decor has seen better days - we were sitting next to an area of wall that needed repainting, but we were willing to overlook that. The toilets were nothing fancy, but clean and functional.

My conclusion: £6 may not be too cheap, as long as you are not expecting anything exceptional. I like great food as much as anyone, but sometimes there is a place for "perfectly ok".

The Vegetarian's Paradise
59 Marchmont Street
Russell Square,
London
WC1N 1AP

020 7278 6881