Chennai Dosa, Wembley **

Every time I go to Chennai Dosa Wembley I feel really guilty about the waiting staff. I was once told by a friend of a friend that the staff there get paid £20 for a 13 hour day, with unlimited dosa however and accommodation provided. With this is mind I never expect the service to be dilligent, accurate and of an above average standard and always feel very guilty when I see scrawny looking waiting staff carrying huge hot dishes of channa bhattura and dosa whilst I sit back and relax. However the age old adage of 'if you pay peanuts you get monkeys' applies and the service has always been terrible at Chennai Dosa and I have frequently been brought the wrong order, been made to wait a long time for simple dishes and been provided the least helpful explanations about dishes ever - 'It's a vada init'.

However I do not continue to visit Chennai Dosa for the service but the food which is wholesome, tasty, cheap and quick, in theory, to prepare and serve. A meal for two can cost as little as £10 including drinks and service and the portions are very filling. As the name suggests this is a place that specialises in dosas and there are all manner of dosas on the menu ranging from paper dosas, masala dosas to even mutton curry dosas. For those with an unusually large appetite there is also a 5 foot long dosa, enough to feed a family or an incredibly hungry person - one of these days I will try it, although I may not live to write about it on this blog.

The restaurant is divided into two, the non-vegetarian side and the vegetarian side both of which have separate menus and are in theory separate restaurants. I prefer the vegetarian restaurant as the non-veg dishes are frequently over-cooked, too spicy and scrimp on meat by adding more sauce.

This restaurant however has good dosas, on the whole, and is ideal for a quick meal with minimum fuss. On weekends and evenings it can get very busy however the turnover is very high so waiting times are never longer than 10 minutes.

Aside from the overall dining experience the food is excellent and the range of south Indian dishes is even better. The lassis are also fresh and well prepared. Given this fact I would give Chennai Dosa 2 out of 5.

www.chennai-dosa.co.uk