Ravi Shankar Restaurant

I went here because of its good ratings and location in fabled Drummond Street. I took the “set menu” consisting of starter, main course and dessert for a fixed price. The starters were uniformly dry and brittle (somosas, etc), the main course liquid and lacking in substance (for example an aubergine curry consisted of a single slice of aubergine in a pool of yellow sauce). Next time I’ll go to the more reliable Diwana Bhel Poori House down the road.

A south Indian vegetarian restaurant serving excellent dosas. Also a good lunch buffet. Prices very reasonable.

Great place to get delicious Indian food for a really good price. We enjoyed our evening! Taste it!!! :-)

A deservedly popular vegetarian Indian restaurant, practically a legend among North Londonites. My companions had the day's special but I settled for a Masala Dosa which is indeed a lovely thing. Does a buffet at lunchtime. There are several restaurants along Drummond Street but this one has a special place in many hearts.

The menu of this all-vegetarian Indian restaurant seemed exciting, with lots of south Indian specialities.

From said menu I chose the Shankar thali as I was were there in a big group and it's easy to order. I generally like the variety that a thali has to offer (it's a high-sided metal tray with 5 or so metal dishes inside, each with a different curry, and a large metal dish of rice). I've eaten quite a few thalis here and there, and this one was, well, it was OK. A bit greasy, not much variation in flavour or appearance, but on the whole edible.

The gulab jamun was nice, however, but there was only one in my dish!

If I had to I'd go back (i.e. another post-conference dinner), but I wouldn't choose to go there again. If I did maybe I'd try a dosa, as a previous reviewer recommended.

I've come here several times at the behest of friends, most recently this week. Ravi Shankar is happily consistent in the excellence of its food and sadly consistent in the inadequacy of its service.

The curries are good, but the dosas are the highlight of the menu for me.

I would absolutely love this place if it weren't so difficult to get the correct food order. Dishes go missing, only to reappear on the bill... It does get corrected, but it's a fuss every time.

I used to come here regularly before I discovered the nearby Chutney’s (also reviewed), but I am still very fond of this restaurant for its lunchtime buffet and especially its syrup sponge balls. The Ravi Shankar is spacious, with wooden tables and benches, but still pretty packed so get there early. The food is of course wonderful, and all vegetarian. If not having the buffet, there is a wide choice of dosas, which here seem thicker and more filling than at neighbouring restaurants. The only downside to this restaurant is that there is segregated seating at lunchtime, so that non-buffet eaters are not allowed to sit with buffet customers - so that if one of your party doesn’t want the buffet you have to split up. But the buffet is pretty special and it would be silly not to try it.