D is for Dosa Kitchen...

When a visit to a South Indian canteen gives you life lessons about simplicity, breaking the houmous loop and where to park in Jesmond.

It's been a while, my bad. Life getting in the way plus the crushing disappointment of the last letter meant my pursuit of alphabetic eateries had slipped. This hasn't been helped by my struggles with The Loop. The loop is a cycle I get trapped in on a regular basis - usually houmous or yoghurt based. I have no houmous in the fridge, I spot it in the supermarket and put it in the basket. The houmous goes in the fridge, I forget to eat it, it goes past its use by date, I throw it out. I have no houmous in the fridge, I spot it in the supermarket and put it in the baske..... you get the picture. The amount of raspberry skyr sitting in landfills around North Tyneside is obscene.

I fell into a Dosa Kitchen (7 Osborne Road [rear] Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 2AE) loop. I wanted to try the Sunday sapaad, but as the name suggests it is only available on a Sunday. But when the last day of the weekend arrived, I wasn't sure I fancied a curry for lunch, so decided to go for a meal there after work during the week, but during the week I really wanted to try the Sunday sapaad, which as the name suggests is only available on a Sunday, but when the weekend arrived I wasn't sure I fancied a curry for lunch, so instead decided to go aft.... you get the picture. Rinse and repeat. Anyway, weeks went by and I thought the ridiculousness must stop, so I went for the South Indian thali on the day between Saturday and Monday. It proved one thing - stopping the prevarication can be mighty tasty. I need to apply this lesson to all areas of my life.

The food - you get ten dishes plus a bowl of rice, a popadom and a dosa, a sort of flatbread made from de-husked black lentils and rice. It's a crepe - that's what it is! Clockwise from noon it is a masala omelette, Malabar Meen Kolzambu (fish curry), Kochi Melagu (pepper chicken curry), chutney, rasam (a tasty soup of tamarind, spices and tomatoes), sambhar (lentil-based vegetable stew), yoghurt (the kind that does not lie overlooked in a fridge), Saffron Kesari (sweet and creamy dessert spiced with aromatic cardamom and flecked with strands of saffron), Mirap Kozhi Moruval (popcorn chicken) and Chilli Prawns (the sauce was wonderfully tangy). The sauces aren't as thick as your standard chicken jalfrezi from the local takeaway, but that doesn't make them worse - they taste so good, based on the six tastes of Ayurveda - sweet, sour, salty, pungent (spicy), bitter, astringent. If I was a pretentious food blogger I would describe it as authentic. But then it probably is.

Food isn't just about taste - good food encompasses a range of sensory experiences. The sapaad smells wonderful and it looks amazing laid out in a range of silver tins. There is also something really, really satisfying about eating with your hands - ripping a piece of dosa and dotting about between the dishes. I don't want to upset the chef, but this is simple food done exceptionally well. I loved it.

The place - it is down a back lane. You then go into an upstairs dining area that is full of atmosphere and wood. There were a few diners already in, including a large family (in number rather than girth) already well into their meals. The staff are lovely and friendly - perpetual motion as they keep the dosas coming.

The score - a Tiffintastic 93%

All washed down with a lovely apple juice. I had the car. Oh yes, exactly where do you park in Jesmond??

Next - everything starts with an E.