Review at a glance: ★★★★☆
Anyone who’s visited Sri Lanka will be familiar with “Lanka time”, a smiling shorthand for the untroubled contempt for punctuality held by many Sri Lankans. Everything takes twice as long as promised, nothing turns up on time. Not a phenomenon confined to the Indian subcontinent, of course; Spain, Italy and Greece proudly hold up their end too.
Perhaps, then, there are German investors at Adoh, a Sri Lankan street food spot where the approach to service will be familiar to those who’ve occasionally found themselves in a Lidl or Aldi trying to dodge the eggs and mouthwash being hurled through the scanners. Dishes arrived almost as soon as they’d been ordered, as though merely uttering the names aloud had supernaturally summoned them. I began very early on to wish we had not ordered wine by the bottle; the entire meal had been and gone before we’d vanished the first glass. A waste of £40 — perplexingly the cheapest bottle in a place where mains do not go past £15.
Still, those who stick to pints (£6.50) or a cocktail (£10) are unlikely to feel rushed or ripped off. Adoh sits on Maiden Lane, next to the stiff-upper-lip of for-King-and-country Rules (full of Americans), and opposite the good-time yee-haw of American barbecue joint Big Easy (full of Brits). What used to be a Franco Manca has been colourfully done over in bright blues and unrelenting reds, design cues taken from the lead-paint buses that creak through Sri Lanka, as colourful as old cigarette advertisements. The bonnet of one of these old beasts has been cut off and used as a service station.
Appropriately enough, Adoh is best approached as a pit-stop place. It is clearly set up for this, with 70 covers for walk-ins only. The hastiness of the service should encourage turned tables.
This is drinking food, and the wise money will go wild on the snacks. Oblong mutton rolls were crisp, breadcrumbed and brimming with a slow-cooked curried mutton filling that was all garlic and ginger and chilli powder, but they were rightly richer and sweeter than they were hot. Six of these, each matched by ice-cold lager, could make a perfect kind of night.
Vada — dumplings that look like deep-fried doughnuts, and don’t taste dissimilar — came the colour of scorched soil, with three dips to scoop them in (coconut, tomato and curry, and green chilli). A choose-your-own-adventure story, only with spice. Chilli prawn toast was formed in neat, crustless squares, made with what might affectionately be called “shit white bread”, the cheap kind from a supermarket that cannot be surpassed in certain scenarios (see also: bacon sandwiches).
Masala curry dosa had its crepe unwrapped, instead laid flat and quartered like a pizza. On it was spread sticky masala, light on oil so it clung to the batter as a paste. It was topped with diced raw onion and fresh coriander, The smell overtook the spice. Had there been a moment to gather our thoughts, three more would have been ordered.
The service will be familiar to those who’ve found themselves in a Lidl or Aldi trying to dodge the eggs being hurled through the scanner
There wasn’t a moment, of course, as the contents of our table were cajoled into the corners to make room for roti with pork curry the brown of old office chairs. The pork had been simmering all day, past the point of attractive unctuousness and into ugly dryness. Fortunately, there was no time to be disappointed: waffles arrived to be folded as a sandwich around strips of fried chicken — in the sense of a schnitzel, not KFC — with a chicken sauce that tasted far better than the lily pads of oil on its surface suggested. I am not sure any of this is food of staggering authenticity, but throughout was clever, detailed spicing that suggested the kitchen genuinely cares.
Service is 13.5 per cent. I hate this upward creep happening across town, though here I am a little more sympathetic, given the staff must be depositing their tips into funds for running shoes and knee replacements. Adoh, then, offers the best fast food in the city, perhaps without intending to. One for those spontaneous moments, when nothing is planned and the night is determined to go its own way.
36 Maiden Lane, WC2E 7LJ. Meal for two about £60 (without wine); adoh.co.uk
