Sitting cheek-by-jowl with charity shops and takeaways is an Indian street food kitchen with a rapidly growing reputation.
Deciding to break up the gloomy weather of the August Bank Holiday weekend we had a family tea-time outing to RK Sweets.
Previously operating on a wholesale basis the family-run firm of 30 years standing took on the Plungington Road location five years ago.
We’re choosing to eat in and there’s a small dining area to the right of the large and well-stocked sweets and savouries counter.
RK do takeaway as well but we thought we’d try out what it’s like within the restaurant.
It’s not really fair to call it a restaurant, as it has more of a cafe feel. This is not sit down and dine curry, this is fast and filling curry and good for anyone on a budget.
Drinks-wise it’s a dry establishment and so it’s a mango lassi and a sweet lassi. We’ve taken our 18-month-old daughter with us and it’s the first time she’s had a lassi, fair to say she’s incredibly taken with the yoghurt taste and sweetness and sinks it rapidly from her beaker.
You order at the counter in RK and we go for some paneer pakora starters along with poppadoms and dips.
It’s around 5.30pm and the place is already busy, with families and couples enjoying some food before heading out or post-Bank Holiday Sunday shifting.
The paneer pakoras are delicious. RK Sweets is vegetarian food only and it is not held back by this, if the soft pastry and tasty soft cheese is anything to go by. They have a kick too – but not too much.
For the mains we try out the two main options for RK Sweets, a thali and a dosa.
I go for the Premium Thali, there’s three different options, and make my way along the counter filling up my silver tray. It’s like having a school dinner, a very good one, Indian style.
Mutter paneer, dahl, bombay potatoes, a lentil pakora, chappatis and pilau rice quickly fill up the tray. For £6.50 it’s a good helping to keep you filled up and it’s tasty stuff too.
They really know how to do their paneer here, the mutter paneer (sauce, peas and cheese) blends well with the pilau rice which is filled with flavour and has vegetables mixed in.
Bombay potatoes are the weakest part of the thali, lacking any real kind of kick or taste – definitely something to be improved.
For the dosas, which seem to be RK’s signature dish, it is a paneer doas and it gets the nod of approval from my wife. It comes with a raita dip to help cool it down as it has a decent chilli tingle to it.
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Of course, RK Sweets in the name, means you need to have dessert. The thali comes with a sweet ball, which is bright orange. Our server says they are a special for today because it is a Hindi festival celebrating brothers and sisters. He doesn’t even know what’s in it, but it’s a delicious mix of fruit and a golden syrup flavour.
For the mains, starters and lassis it comes in at £20 all in – which is great value.
After finishing the meal we take a trip to the counter, where there’s lots of tasty sweet and savouries to pick up. These make for a great buffet lunch the next day, with samosas, cheese balls and bhajis all cooked fresh that day.
Food: 9/10
Service: 7/10
Atmosphere: 7/10
Value: 10/10
Total: 33/40
Our food reviewers pay for themselves and aren’t invited by the venue, if we are we will always say in the review.