As you know, I’m a big fan of Indian food. I also love street food so my recent visit to Raja Monkey (where they serve authentic Indian street food) was always going to be the highlight of my week! As part of the Lasan group I knew the food would be great so with one of my best mates in tow (and a new face to Gingey Bites) I headed over there to stuff my face.
Although the frontage looked good, the restaurant from the outside is very unassuming – perhaps just another curry house along a row of shops in the Birmingham suburb of Hall Green. Once we walked in, we were greeted by a warm space full of terracotta shades, an open kitchen full of busy chefs, soft lighting and most importantly, smiling staff.
The food
We ordered a basket of poppadoms to much on whilst we decided what to eat and I have to say despite the accompanying dip selection being the usual four you’d find anywhere, the lime pickle was the best I’ve ever had. Sweet but sour and filled with flavour.
For our starters we both went for a mix starter – me with chicken, Patrick with fish. Each starter came with three items, all cooked slightly differently and all totally delicious. Patrick’s starter had tandoori salmon tikka marinaded with yoghurt and coriander, punjabi battered fish and a south indian spiced fishcake salmon. Mine had a tandoor grilled chicken piece, north Indian style roasted chicken thigh and a crunchy fried chicken pakora. Both came with a spicy cabbage salad and two chutneys and were totally delicious.
For our mains, we switched places – I went for a fish dish and Patrick for chicken! He chose the chicken from the specials – a tomato based, medium strength dish which I can’t remember the name of! He chose pea pilau rice and chapati to go with it. The curry was really unusual tasting with almost a five spice, cinnamon kick. We both agreed it was both different and yummy!
I opted for a traditional South Indian Thali – one of the house specialities and a complete meal on one plate: smoky bean curry, salmon in coconut milk with mustard seeds and curry leaves, a portion of rice, tomato and onion salad and lentil dhal. Sadly they had run out of dosa so I had a chapati instead. I just love curry leaves, they add such depth of flavour to the dish and the lentil dhal was deliciously creamy but quite thin – perfect for mopping up with the chapati. The smoky beans were unusual and along with Patrick’s curry, a welcome surprise from the type of dishes I’ve eaten in curry houses before.
We ate at Raja Monkey on a Sunday evening and the place was fairly quiet but they do get super busy so make sure you call to book if you’re planning to head down there. For Indian food with a difference, and real value for money (our meal cost £47 for two beers, poppadoms & dips, two starters, two mains, a pot of chai tea and one dessert) then I definitely recommend a trip!
This looks so good! I am so obsessed with street food but have yet to find an Indian restaurant that I love. Will have to check this out next time I'm in Birmingham 🙂 x
Thanks for the comment Hannah! Yes it was great, I'm a big fan of indian food and it was nice to try something a bit different! Make sure you go when you're in the area! X
Mmm looks good. Been meaning to go to Lasan for ages, and now this is on my list too! x