Crispy bhajia and the golden thread of true quality
Crispy bhajia and the golden thread of true quality
A Vittles Review: Tulsi, Maru’s Bhajia House and the GOAT of all GOATS. Words by Jonathan Nunn.
Good morning and welcome back to Vittles Restaurants!
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Today’s newsletter is the fourth edition of Vittles Reviews, a new column dedicated to critical reviews of London restaurants, written by Jonathan Nunn.
You can read the previous reviews below:
Extraordinary Ordinariness at Uncle Wrinkle
The Last Guardians of Beef Dripping Chips (please note, Molesey Fish Bar is closed for holidays until 11th September)
At Peace With Change on Green Lanes
Crispy bhajia and the golden thread of true quality
Tulsi, Maru’s Bhajia House and the GOAT of all GOATS, by Jonathan Nunn
Taste is local. It is not centralised nor gatekept by a few people, but constantly made and remade by tongues; in friendly discussions, mock outrage, arguments with your mum, in the pub, in ice cream parlours, on sofas, in the backs and fronts of Ubers. Currently, the best place to assess taste and its attendant physical form, quality, isn’t in books, or printed newspapers and journals, but in culturally and locally specific Facebook groups. Want to discuss the minutiae of Bow’s halal burgers? There’s a group for that. Want to know where the best crispy bhajia is made? Then you best believe you should be consulting Facebook groups of north-west London’s Indian uncles. The only reason I still willingly give my private information and teenage nightclub photos to Meta is because, across dozens of specialist groups, it’s the one arena where you can witness debates – on biryani, naga wings and regional variations of laksa – conducted with the same intensity of an Athenian symposium.
Take this judgement from R.K. in a group mainly dedicated to ranking mixed grills, which is more persuasive than the combined consensus of all seven UK restaurant critics, the two blokes from Topjaw and the “if you can’t take a date, take a mate” guy put together:
“Just had them Tulsi Bhajia and OH MY GOD. Seriously another next level now!
“Muhammad Ali is a G.O.A.T.
“Lionel Messi is a G.O.A.T.
“But TULSI is ‘THE’ true G.O.A.T. of ALL G.O.A.Ts”
To understand why Tulsi’s crispy bhajia are such a big deal, it’s worth going back to the beginning.