Ragam

Ragam has been operating since 1985 in Marylebone, and has a sister restaurant in Tooting called Krishna Radha Bhawan, which has been running since 1999. Both specialise in dishes from Kerala, though their menus offer plenty of other options also. Ragam can seat 32 diners at one time, and its bamboo décor is intended to resemble, or at least hint at, the cabin of one of the houseboats (called kettuvallam) that take tourists around the picturesque backwaters of Kerala. The menu was quite extensive, with a wide range of options. There was a short wine list though it was very basic indeed, with entries like “Argentinian Malbec” that didn’t list the grower, never mind the vintage. I drank Cobra beer instead.

Uthappam (£9.50) is a kind of Keralan (or Tamil) take on pizza, a savoury pancake made with fermented rice and lentils batter, topped with chillies, tomatoes and onions. I have had this mostly for breakfast in India, but it can certainly be eaten at any meal. This was a good version, the texture of the pancake good and the flavour of the toppings enlivening the dish (12/20).

Methi chicken (£10.95) is a classic curry with fenugreek leaves and spices, the version here having reasonably tender pieces of chicken and quite a lively chilli kick (12/20). Kodampuli chemmeen (£12.95) is a Keralan curry featuring king prawns with a sauce flavoured with crushed coconut, green chillies, garlic, ginger, turmeric, shallots, cumin and curry leaves flavoured with smoked tamarind. This was an enjoyable dish, the coconut flavour coming through well and the prawns quite large and nicely cooked (12/20). Egg roast curry (£10.50) was an unusual dish with hard boiled eggs and a sauce flavoured with onions, tomatoes, ginger red chillies and curry leaves. I thought that this worked very well (easily 12/20). I was a little less taken with a side dish of okra and potato, where the okra was a touch soggy, as often happens with this ingredient (11/20). Garlic paratha was pleasant, with decent texture if a touch dry compared to some other versions that I have tried (12/20).

We had kulfi for dessert, which are actually made at the sister restaurant in Tooting (which has a larger kitchen). Mango kulfi was fine though for me could have had deeper mango flavour, though pistachio kulfi was better (12/20). Service was friendly, and the bill came to £54 per person with beer to drink and ample food. If you ordered more carefully than us then you could probably end up with a cost per person of around £40. Ragam represents good value and continues to be busy forty years after opening.

Further reviews: 31st May 2012