Indian Veg Bhelpoori House

A London Landmark

10 Apr 08, 19:41 Above expectations

I cannot rave about this place enough. However I can imagine others being equally turned off by it. The thing is you have to leave any pretentions at the door (and you can't miss the door what with all the signage around it). You're not going to take a first date here, let's be honest, but if you're alone or accompanied by people you don't have to pretend any airs and graces around then this eccentric eatery is the best quick cheap eat in London. I've got to come back to that word again "eccentric". We love eccentricity in this nation and this place has it in spades. There's not a square inch on the walls that's isn't covered with a poster or quote exhorting you to quit eating meat and go vegge. Personally I think the food itself is a good advert. Although a rabid carnivore myself I certainly don't feel cheated of lamb or chicken chunks as I tear my way through the 3rd helping of their vegge offerings. It's very tasty, filling and amazing for £3.50. Diners are made up of a broad mix of students, professionals, groups lining their stomachs before hitting Upper Street etc. If you're really lucky you'll get to sit near a young family, like my wife and I did, and overhear the boy asking his daddy why, if this was an Indian restaurant, were there no cowboys. And that about sums up the charm of this place for me. Innocent, honest food.

I am addicted

12 Oct 07, 16:25 Above expectations

I live round the corner from Indian Veg and have been coming here for years. Fabulous place. In fact, it's my lazy dinner option, and when I started suffering the pyrotechnic effects of eating here five nights a week, I had to cut back a bit.

A useful point other reviewers haven't mentioned: because of the bustly buffet atmosphere, it's a good place to come if you need to grab a meal on your own. You don't feel uncomfortable sitting by yourself as you might in other restaurants. Plus you can pass the time reading one of the plaques explaining how eating vegetables will turn you into a foxy 20-something Bollywood princess.

The food is always more or less exactly the same. Don't expect culinary fireworks - Masala Zone round the corner on Upper Street has lots more variety (at higher prices). But I've never had a duff meal here. The curries tend to be quite mild, but I guess they need to cater for everyone.

Only negatives I can think of: on hot summer evenings when it's busy, it gets a little bit...humid. And the spoons for the sauces are comically and impractically small.

Cheapest restaurant in London I reckon.

06 Aug 07, 17:04 Above expectations

I think it's now gone up to a shocking £3.50 for all you can eat. Capitalist scum. Still, for that you get to help yourself to a veg curry, a dhal, a couple of types of rice, salad, some breads, popadoms, onion rings and pakoras. And then you can do the same again 15 minutes later. And again, until you can't walk. It's pretty tasty, if rather lacking in choice, and costs about the same as a pint.

The exhortations to go vegetarian that cover every inch of wall space are pretty cool too.

Cheap and cheerful!

12 Jul 07, 00:00 Above expectations

The all you can eat buffet is about £2.99 you can't go wrong! there is a variety of veg food, and the resturant is perfect for vegetarians like myself. The atmosphere is not like your traditional curry house, the decor consist's of confirming the restaurants name with their pro veg posters, which maybe offers customers reassurance for being veg? it is a bit over the top! And could do with restyling.

Brilliantly naff and chronically cheap

08 Jun 07, 23:26 Above expectations

You will not believe this place.

I think the last time I went, you could eat as much as you can for about £1.99, but this might have gone up to £2.50... not sure.

It is vegetarian only, and the place is so strange I don't know how to describe it. Imagine a slightly grubby Indian cafe in Delhi who have just bought a new machine which makes perspex signs, which they have used to write as many facts, charts, and graphs about Indian cuisine and the benefits of vegetarianism as possible. And then they have stuck up posters of Indian beauties (which they claim are all vegetarians, of course) which have slightly faded in the corners...

...difficult to imagine.

The food is very good indeed given the price, though I suspect its freshness is slightly random factor given that it is a buffet (during the week I bet things may have 'stewed' a little too long?!).

It's right next to The Elbow Room, so my suggestion would be to make plans to go there, and precede it with a rapid curry. Let me know what you think.