The Tamil Crown and The Tamil Prince are two of the tougher tables to get in north London. Which makes Tamila all the more a blessing: a casual offshoot of the acclaimed pair, a touch less vibey but all the easier to book as a result.
It also seems to be expanding. After launching in Clapham, a second branch has now opened in the heart of King’s Cross, within spitting distance of its royal siblings. From a glance, you might not immediately recognise the familial connection though. Their slender serif fonts, in regal green and gold, are swapped here for a chunky orange number with drop shadow for days.
The differences extend to the decor, here stripped back and mid-century modern, interspersed with the odd kitschy touch. Try and get a table in the bright, airy ground floor dining room if it’s daytime, but in the evening the basement does a decent facsimile of the darker, moodier dining spaces of the Crown and Prince.
Once you get to the menu, things feel more familiar. Plenty of dishes are lifted outright from the original restaurants, the same preposterously crisp onion bhaji, the warmly spiced Thanjavur chicken curry. The roti, of course, tumbles of golden brown pastry which have become a Tamil trademark as surely as anything else, and are no less flaky and delectable here than anywhere else.
Still, this isn’t a carbon copy. The menu is structured differently, for one, the small plates / large plates dichotomy broken up a little further. There are snacks, of which those bhaji are the undisputed star, though king prawn and curry leaf varuval puts up a strong showing, plump prawns packing an impressive kick.
A trio of dosas come next, in the same thick, bready uttapam style of the other branches. We try the mutton curry variant, thick with a fiery paste of tender lamb. Bread is a general strength - did I mention the roti? - with a couple of naan options too. A kulcha naan, rich and buttery and stuffed with curried vegetables - arrives in four thick wedges, and could probably serve as a meal in its own right. I’ve had this twice, and it was far better the second time, a lighter bread with a more substantial flavour, so clearly there is still a little variability at play.
There are five curries on the menu, three of them vegetarian or vegan. That chicken is a standout, its sauce thick and certainly not subtle, though I might quibble about how much actual chicken is included in the equation. A channa masala is a little less memorable - tasty enough, and the chickpeas cooked just the right side of tender, but nothing you can’t find elsewhere.
Then there’s the tandoor. A half chicken arrived gently crisped but still moist to its heart, enlivened by a luridly green mint chutney that demands to be slathered over every bit. It’s a mere pound more than the chicken curry, and nets you at least three times the amount of bird.
By the time of my second visit to the King’s Cross branch, they’d added a trio of masala lamb chops, served a touch unexpectedly on a bed of rocket. This is another Tamil staple, and while I think before the lamb has been just that bit crisper on the outside, that smidge juicier on the inside, it would be churlish to complain too much about what are three pretty exceptionally delicious slabs of sheep.
As for drinks, beers are joined by a short set of Indian-inflected cocktails, and a wine list that offers affordable options by the glass or carafe, and gets quickly less affordable if you take a look at the bottles. Desserts include a mango soft serve I’ll be hitting up next time I’m there, and dense, syrupy gulab jamun that somehow never tip into the sickly.
The strangest thing about Tamila is that until I set down to write this review, and actually opened up all the menus side by side, I would have sworn it ran cheaper than its predecessors. That’s not just because the cheery logo font and simple seating give the impression of affordability though. I really did get in and out while spending a little less, the casual decor and ease of booking lending itself to lighter lunches and more modest consumption - whereas if you’ve waited a month for a booking at the Prince, you’re probably inclined to go all out.
Then again, with Tamila right there and plenty of tables, perhaps there’s no reason to wait that long now anyway.