Mum couldn't be bothered to cook last night and the rest of my family weren't around so she asked me if I wanted to go to The Thali Cafe opposite our church in Easton. Despite walking past it at least once a week I had never been and I will never complain about a free meal on Mum, so I accepted.
The Thali didn't start out as a cafe 15 years ago, but a tent in a summer festival. The inspiration comes from cafe owner Sid Sharma's Indian background and travels in and around India, with recipes taken down through the generations. The Easton venue is one of four in Bristol and its interior is dotted with old 1960s style portrait photography of Indian men, women and children, with deep pink walls, plants and the occasional Indian-style ornament.
Walking through the door it definitely felt like a cafe as we had to walk right to the counter before we were met. A lady said hello to us but wasn't particularly pro-active in showing us to a table, but mum had chosen a two seater in the middle of the restaurant anyway so we sat there.
The Thali didn't start out as a cafe 15 years ago, but a tent in a summer festival. The inspiration comes from cafe owner Sid Sharma's Indian background and travels in and around India, with recipes taken down through the generations. The Easton venue is one of four in Bristol and its interior is dotted with old 1960s style portrait photography of Indian men, women and children, with deep pink walls, plants and the occasional Indian-style ornament.
Walking through the door it definitely felt like a cafe as we had to walk right to the counter before we were met. A lady said hello to us but wasn't particularly pro-active in showing us to a table, but mum had chosen a two seater in the middle of the restaurant anyway so we sat there.
We were handed our menus and asked what we'd like to drink promptly. Our tap water arrived in a tin jug delivered to us with two tin cups. My own previous travels in India were brought back to my mind drinking out of this style of cup, so they'd kept it authentic already.
Mum had been before to a Thali Cafe and had said that the poppadom and chutney starters were nice, and I'm a big poppadom fan so I was more than happy to go for this. The four different dips were tasty, although the yogurt dip was largely bland but was made up for by the other three.
Mum had been before to a Thali Cafe and had said that the poppadom and chutney starters were nice, and I'm a big poppadom fan so I was more than happy to go for this. The four different dips were tasty, although the yogurt dip was largely bland but was made up for by the other three.
When the bill came at the end though, we felt it was cheeky that we had been charged 85p for each individual poppadom - extremely pricey in my opinion. We gobbled the starter up sharpish and were eager for our main course, which took a bit longer to come than I had thought it would, particularly as it wasn't busy. The waitress wasn't overly bubbly and outgoing, but neither was she rude, so I suppose I am just used to over-the-top-niceness in the waitresses and waiters I have experienced of late.
This (pictured) was my main. Having lots of friends from the South Indian state of Kerala meant that I knew that fish curry - The Southern Thali [£9.50] - is traditional for that part of the county so decided to give that a go.
Personally, when I try out a new restaurant I like to be adventurous. I am highly, highly unlikely to go for a Lasagne ever at any given restaurant, for example, and will try to order something I've never tried before, or never thought I would like. Chicken curries are a very your-everyday-Indian-takeaway dish to order, so I wanted to try something else. And I was not disappointed.
As you can see, the thali comes with rice, yogurt, salad, dahl, and what we thought was aubergine (but looked strangely like watermelon), and my Mum's Mogul Thali (chicken) [£9.95] looked almost identical. It doesn't look a lot, but the domes of rice you are served expand into much more than meets the eye, and several large enough pieces of fish were wedged into the largest tin bowl, making the whole meal nicely filling. For me, I see these several separate bowls as simply enabling you to choose what is mixed with what when you eat, and I have the tendency to simply empty it all into the middle, as I find it much easier to eat this way. I don't know if this is what you are supposed to do, or if this is what they would do in India, but if we're being picky and really being true to Indian culture we would all be scooping up mouthfuls with our fingers and thumb and making quite a lot more mess.
I loved the fish, and it was beautifully flavoured and perfectly tender. I ate it with the rice and salad, and dipped each forkful into the yogurt pot on the way to my mouth. This created a cocktail of textures all in one mouthful with the crunchiness of the salad, softness of the fish, and.. well, rice-ness of the rice.. that all really complimented one another. I would say it was a mildly spicy curry, but then my spice tolerance is relatively high, and most people don't trust me if I say something is only mildly spicy. If the dish is not as spicy as your taste buds would like, however, you can add to it by asking for some Thali Chilli Sauce to supposedly up the heat. I ate the dahl after the fish/rice/salad/yogurt concoction I had assembled, partly because I had been craving it in recent weeks and wanted to enjoy it fully. However, by this time I was rather full, and my mouth too crowded full of flavour from the curry that I felt I was forcing myself to eat it rather than enjoying the soupy lentil based dish.
By the time we had finished our main courses at about 9:30pm, there was only one waitress on her shift still, and she hadn't got around to noticing that we'd finished so we spent a few minutes trying to catch her eye. She was more friendly than the last though, when she finally came over, and quickly scooped up our dishes and brought us the bill.
Having not actually tried a Thali either of the two times I have been to India, I have nothing to compare the authenticity of the dish I had to. I do, however, know that all of the food I ate whilst in the country was quite a few times more spicy than last night's meal, but I'd say almost equally as tasty. I'm not sure whether or not the decor intends to be authentic, but I wouldn't say it particularly is, although the atmosphere was a relaxed one with light music playing in the background (though not Indian at all, I seem to remember). Would I recommend it? Yes, as it was filling, flavoursome, and a relaxing meal out with the option of eating on sofas or armchairs as well as your more conventional wooden restaurant seat. If you don't fancy venturing in to Easton there are other branches in Clifton, Montpellier and Totterdown; perhaps with more scenic views than St Mark's Road, although for us this was the more convenient. My mum even managed to park the car immediately outside the restaurant for us to stumble our rounded food-baby bellies into and off home.
This (pictured) was my main. Having lots of friends from the South Indian state of Kerala meant that I knew that fish curry - The Southern Thali [£9.50] - is traditional for that part of the county so decided to give that a go.
Personally, when I try out a new restaurant I like to be adventurous. I am highly, highly unlikely to go for a Lasagne ever at any given restaurant, for example, and will try to order something I've never tried before, or never thought I would like. Chicken curries are a very your-everyday-Indian-takeaway dish to order, so I wanted to try something else. And I was not disappointed.
As you can see, the thali comes with rice, yogurt, salad, dahl, and what we thought was aubergine (but looked strangely like watermelon), and my Mum's Mogul Thali (chicken) [£9.95] looked almost identical. It doesn't look a lot, but the domes of rice you are served expand into much more than meets the eye, and several large enough pieces of fish were wedged into the largest tin bowl, making the whole meal nicely filling. For me, I see these several separate bowls as simply enabling you to choose what is mixed with what when you eat, and I have the tendency to simply empty it all into the middle, as I find it much easier to eat this way. I don't know if this is what you are supposed to do, or if this is what they would do in India, but if we're being picky and really being true to Indian culture we would all be scooping up mouthfuls with our fingers and thumb and making quite a lot more mess.
I loved the fish, and it was beautifully flavoured and perfectly tender. I ate it with the rice and salad, and dipped each forkful into the yogurt pot on the way to my mouth. This created a cocktail of textures all in one mouthful with the crunchiness of the salad, softness of the fish, and.. well, rice-ness of the rice.. that all really complimented one another. I would say it was a mildly spicy curry, but then my spice tolerance is relatively high, and most people don't trust me if I say something is only mildly spicy. If the dish is not as spicy as your taste buds would like, however, you can add to it by asking for some Thali Chilli Sauce to supposedly up the heat. I ate the dahl after the fish/rice/salad/yogurt concoction I had assembled, partly because I had been craving it in recent weeks and wanted to enjoy it fully. However, by this time I was rather full, and my mouth too crowded full of flavour from the curry that I felt I was forcing myself to eat it rather than enjoying the soupy lentil based dish.
By the time we had finished our main courses at about 9:30pm, there was only one waitress on her shift still, and she hadn't got around to noticing that we'd finished so we spent a few minutes trying to catch her eye. She was more friendly than the last though, when she finally came over, and quickly scooped up our dishes and brought us the bill.
Having not actually tried a Thali either of the two times I have been to India, I have nothing to compare the authenticity of the dish I had to. I do, however, know that all of the food I ate whilst in the country was quite a few times more spicy than last night's meal, but I'd say almost equally as tasty. I'm not sure whether or not the decor intends to be authentic, but I wouldn't say it particularly is, although the atmosphere was a relaxed one with light music playing in the background (though not Indian at all, I seem to remember). Would I recommend it? Yes, as it was filling, flavoursome, and a relaxing meal out with the option of eating on sofas or armchairs as well as your more conventional wooden restaurant seat. If you don't fancy venturing in to Easton there are other branches in Clifton, Montpellier and Totterdown; perhaps with more scenic views than St Mark's Road, although for us this was the more convenient. My mum even managed to park the car immediately outside the restaurant for us to stumble our rounded food-baby bellies into and off home.