A Rival for Brick Lane Curry Houses?

You fancy a curry in London, so you think of that well-known road in East London...what's it called? Brick Lane. It's famous for its numerous curry houses, some a lot more popular than others, and the standard procedure for the owners or waiters to tout passer-by and offer a set menu or large discount that cannot be refused.

However, for some South West Londoners, Brick Lane can seem like a journey across the Atlantic, and there's no need to travel such a distance when we have a perfectly popular curry house here in Vauxhall. Similar cheap prices with local/native cooked curry, along with BYOB (Bring Your Own Booze), Hot Stuff is a new favourite of mine.

History
Set up in 1988, this independent family-run restaurant and take-away establishment offers affordable and delicious dishes to the locals of the area. Hidden away on Wilcox Road, it is located on a small parade of shops and restaurants. It had its 'big break' in Timeout Magazine in 1996 and, as many businesses find, appearing in this publication gave Hot Stuff the springboard to popularity and the great reputation it deserved. Read more about Hot Stuff's history.

As a group of 6, we were busy catching up and we didn't have the chance to even glance at the menu before the waiter came to take our order. We were offered the set menu, and for the ease of decision-making and splitting the bill later, we simply accepted, not really knowing what was going to be served. This really is the best way to explore a restaurant's menu, especially at a curry house, where we all know that, even after a full browsing of the menu, we will more than likely order our favourite Chicken Tikka Masala or Lamb Korma!




Food:

Starters

Poppadoms and sauces

Mixed bhajis (onion, potato, spinach)

Meat samosas

Chicken wings

Chilli paneer

Mains

Butternut squash and spinach

Karahi Chicken curry

Masala fish

(We had another 3 dishes or so, but I can not tell you what these were!)

Sides

Pilau rice

Unlimited naan bread (yep...unlimited!)

The set menu was priced at £15.00 a head and there was no corkage charge for any of the alcohol we brought along.

This is a small restaurant which seats about 30-40 people in sittings at 7:00pm or 9:00pm. I wanted to visit for the last six months and have now, finally, been able to experience the buzzing atmosphere, delicious food and very friendly service. How lucky am I to have this great little place as my local curry house?!