Restaurant Review

Poppadom Take-Away

reviewed by Leslie Williams

The residents of Dublin 6 have been blessed for the last four years or so with probably the best Indian restaurant in the country on their doorsteps; Poppadom in Rathgar village.  Poppadom is always full and has been rightly praised on these pages and elsewhere for its elegant interior, exemplary service and, most of all, its exquisite creative food.

Unfortunately they do not have a takeaway service from the restaurant, which explains why they last year opened a Poppadom takeaway at Newlands Cross. The delivery service only covers Tallaght and Clondalkin, and as I live too far away there was nothing for it but to drive out one evening.

The premises is located among a row of industrial shops and a solicitors office opposite Bewleys Hotel on the Clondalkin side of Newlands Cross.  All cooking is carried out in an open plan kitchen in plain view, and service was friendly and patient (I had a two year old child with me who has discovered the joy of making different noises with whatever is to hand).

The menu was quite familiar as it contains many of the dishes available in the restaurant, though I chose courses that were unfamiliar.  If you have never visited Poppadom (the restaurant) however, then most dishes will be unfamiliar to you.  Chicken tikka is there but do not be put off by the lager lout connotations as Indians have been marinating chicken in yoghurt and spices for hundreds of years and it is delicious (assuming it is similar to that served in the restaurant).  At the bottom of the menu is a note urging customers to try the dishes listed but offering to cook "run of the mill dishes such as Madras, Balti, Jhalfrezi, Korma, Vindaloo etc. on request")

The menu has 8 starters and 14 main courses plus three styles of rice and bread.  There are vegetable, chicken, lamb and prawn dishes sprinkled throughout with a good contrast of flavours and textures to choose from (the real joy with Indian food of course is in these contrasts).  I hungrily ordered two starters, two main courses plus some bread and rice and would have ordered a dal had they had it on the menu but, alas, there was none. The meal took around 20 minutes to cook and was handed over with a smile.

The food had cooled somewhat by the time I returned home so the huge GOC Naan (topped with Garlic red Onion and fresh Coriander) was popped in the oven along with the starters to crisp them up, while I portioned up the rice and main courses and popped each in the microwave for a minute or two to re-heat slightly.  We shared each course equally and served everything together as is always wise with this cuisine.

Our starters included Prawn Momos (minced shrimp with ginger and coriander deep fried in pastry) served with a fabulous pineapple-chilli conserve.  The Momos had solid ginger and coriander flavours with a pleasant mildly hot shrimpy tanginess, which was perfectly offset by the pineapple-chilli conserve.  The Begooni (spiced aubergine fritters coated with poppy and onion seeds) were supposed to be accompanied by mango chutney but I was given a mint yoghurt sauce by mistake.  The minty yoghurt dip did not suit the fritters, which were quite meaty and savoury but was clean and fresh tasting with none of the sweetness that one usually finds in such dips so we forgave the mistake and used it for our complementary poppadoms and the wonderful naan bread. The Fritters did work quite well with the rich sweet/hot pineapple-chilli conserve however, and were full flavoured and richly textured if a little blander than I expected (quite a good thing given the other dishes).

For main courses I chose Kadhai Chicken (tikka style chicken with onions and bell peppers in a spicy tomato, and onion sauce) and Lamb Achari (cubes of lamb cooked in yoghurt and onion sauce flavoured with mustard seeds, aniseed and cumin).  The chicken was rich and satisfying with good clean spice flavours and some heat, while the lamb was quite creamy and mild but with a pleasant, slightly pickled, flavour.

Unfortunately the two main dishes I chose were not in enough contrast so they melded together somewhat.  Thankfully I had ordered Limbu rice, flavoured with lemon juice, turmeric, mustard seeds, curry leaves and peanuts, which was creamy and rich with more than a hint of sweetness and this provided an excellent contrast between the two main courses and with the dry starters. 

Lastly I must speak of the wonderful G.O.C. Naan, flavoured with finely chopped garlic and red onion plus fresh coriander, which was my favourite thing in the whole meal.  This was sinfully good with the moist sweet garlic and onion melting into the doughy top, but perfectly counterpoised by the musty coriander and crispy base.

Portions were extremely generous and the two of us were completely stuffed at the end, while there was enough food left over to make one full meal and a starter the following day.

In conclusion this was probably the best Indian takeaway meal I have eaten due to the sheer consistency of quality across everything I ordered, with one or two outstanding and unexpected elements (e.g. the momos with the pineapple-chilli conserve and the GOC Naan).  The food is as close to the standard of the restaurant as possible for a takeaway, with the bread probably even better.

Starters are 3-4 euro and main courses from 7.50-9.50 each with vegetable courses cheaper again.  My bill came to 29.10 euro, which may seem expensive, but I could have ordered half the food and the two of us would have been equally full.

Poppadom Takeaway, Newlands Cross, Dublin 22 Tel: (01) 4 1111 44

 

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