This charming palace

You'll find the Udupi Palace restaurant in the arcade of shops opposite Kingsbury Tube station, next to the Bombay Gents' Hair Stylists. Don't let the 'Palace' part of the name scare you - this clean and tiny 12-seat eatery is awesomely cheap and thoroughly practical. The waiter stands with his diners in a small room, with a hatch in the wall leading into the kitchen, which is in another building. Occasionally he walks out and along the arcade into the kitchen to discuss the finer points of your order.

The food is vegetarian, very good and very cheap. At lunchtime the mini-meals (a couple of chapattis, veg curry and fruit juice) can cost as little as £1.75. In the evening, ordering the most extravagant thing on the menu --mrushtanna, a special Bangalore thali - will cost you £6.99. For your seven quid you get dal rasam, sambar, dry vegetables, kootu, steamed rice, two chapattis, raitha, papads, pickles, pudding and a choice of coffee or tea, which translates as a hearty meal with lots of interesting dishes and a balance of protein and carbohydrate.

There is something very attractive about the no-nonsense approach of this kind of Indian restaurant - the food is served in stainless steel bowls, you get a stainless steel plate and cup, everything is spotless.

The starters are interesting. Most of the dishes are from the South of India, but there are one or two exceptions, such as the chur mury, which is flagged on the menu as being very hot, but it's not that hot. Imagine a bowl of large, fresh Rice Krispies tossed with chilli powder and salt, livened up with onion, salt and coriander. The contrast between the crunchy puffed rice and the lemony onions and fresh green herbs is very special.

From the South there are idlis (steamed lentil and rice patties served with a bowl of veg curry and some coconut chutney). Despite a price tag of just £2, the Palace has just upped the portion size. Or you could opt for the combo of two idli and a vada --vadas look like chunky doughnuts and are deep-fried.

The classic staples are good here, an onion rava masala dosa is large, crisp and satisfyingly full of onions, and the most expensive single menu item (£3.75). Moving on, the lemon rice is delicious. Who would have thought that something so simple could be so good? The chana masala is one of the most complicated dishes on offer - a rich curry of chickpeas in a tomatoey sauce, very well done, the chickpeas tender and the sauce piquant without being sharp. The breads are very good (two nans for £1.50).

The best strategy here is to graze. Many of the customers are men stopping off for dinner on their way home, and they seem to order a couple of idlis and then a dosa. The pot of veg curry that comes with each is refilled as necessary, and so a two-course dinner costs about £5 or £6.

But it's much more fun to be greedy and call up a succession of dishes, and also to explore the drinks on offer: the salt lassi is very good, sharp and tangy with an agreeable savoury bite. Or perhaps rose milk appeals? Then again, when offered a glass of cold Horlicks it seems a pity not to try it. The cold Nescafé is a surprisingly good, if sweet, coffee milk-shake. Hardcore puddists will be pleased to see that there is a jaggery dosa served with ice cream (jaggery is that toffee-like palm sugar).

The Udupi Palace is a charming place : good food, friendly service, minimal prices.

Udupi Palace
Kingsbury Road, London, NW9 9HL