No small plates at Lewisham's Everest Curry King
Just generously large portions served in clay pots
Dad was a man of few words. Always caught up in his thoughts, stuck behind a newspaper, then on the iPad catching up on the world news. He loved consuming news. If it wasn’t the papers, it was the rolling TV news, which got increasingly louder the deafer he became. Hearing aids would never be an option. We just had to deal with the noise of the TV blaring throughout the house.
What Dad did love was his food. Eating it. And making it. And, when he chose to cook, more often than not it was his signature dish: Pork curry.
Now, there’s no name for this dish and no written recipe. There always seemed to be garlic and ginger pounded to a pungent paste. Whole spices, roasted and ground to the colour of coffee with a smell that hits the back of your throat and clears your nasal passages.
This curry was always made with pork belly. It was not elegant, not pretty, not a dish to Instagram. That was not our concern. We’d gather around the table and dig in, serving ourselves while knowing that in a few minutes our throats would burn, faces would redden, our bodies would heat up and the sweat would set in. But, we had to eat through the burn, because this curry was so damned good.
It’s curries like this that get served in restaurants where the Sri Lankan diaspora have settled. We have a few in Tooting. The eateries are small and basic with a few tables and chairs because the focus is on the food.
I think this is what Jay Rayner, the food critic experienced when he found himself at Everest Curry King, in Lewisham.
I hadn’t quite realised how close to central London Lewisham is. I think because it’s in South East London (which is a bit of a dead zone for the Tube) I was under the misapprehension it would be a schlep to get there. In fact, from London Bridge mainline station I was there in less than 15 minutes.
A year on from that review, Everest Curry King has expanded and now boasts a licensed, sit-down restaurant. And this is where I went with my friend Sarah, founder of Serendip Crafts.
I believe the test of a good Sri Lankan restaurant is the quality of their short eats. These are snacks we’d serve, with tea, when guest came to the house. They often appear on restaurant menus as starters. The mutton roll and egg and fish roll, were served fresh out of the deep fryer, crisp, almost too hot to hold and bursting with richly spiced filling.
I scanned the menu for the main course, letting my eyes do the eating, and spotted gundu dosa. The batter for these dosas is poured into a special pan to create the dosa balls, which I dipped into chutneys and sambar. Finding gundu dosa on the menu is a rare treat, I’ve only ever seen it on the menu at Rambutan.
Now, Everest Curry King doesn’t do the small sharing plates thing. Pah! This is Lewisham where the portions are generously large. Our curries were brought out to us in clay pots. One pot would have easily fed the two of us.
My mutton was cooked to softness in a dark roasted curry powder boldened with chilli and black pepper. The heat wasn’t instantaneous, an initial gentle warmth on the cheeks before the serious burn set in with a sweat forming on my brow. Though there was significant heat this was balanced with the more fragrant flavours of cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. For me, this is the sign of a good Sri Lankan curry where the heat works in harmony with flavour, and that takes skill.
I will be back to Everest Curry King. I'm bringing friends and family with me to taste that magnificent mutton curry, and feel the sweat and burn! And of course, memories of my Dad!
Everest Curry King
24 Loampit Hill, London SE13 7SW
Tel: 020 8691 2233