Vegetarian Chilli Chicken.

The award-winning Fushia restaurant in South Croydon offers an extensive choice of dishes from different regions and is a great place to visit if you would like to discover an exciting new dish.

When I visited with my friend Mike, he was recommended the squid for starter and I was pleasantly surprised to be spoilt for choice, being a vegetarian. The owner of Fushia, Srini, recommended I have the Vegetarian Chilli Chicken for my starter. I was a bit confused at first, wondering how something with ‘chicken’ in its name can be vegatarian, but it turned out to be a delicious starter with a soya curd substitute providing the same texture as chicken. Green chillis, spring onion and garlic ensured the Vegetarian Chicken had a real kick to it!

Mike said that his squid, a Malaysian dish, was ‘unbelieveable’ - not chewy, but with a lovely crispy batter that retained its crispiness without going soggy.

Srini then served us Sri Lankan ‘Hoppas’, bowl-shaped crispy pancakes with an accompaniment of intensely-flavoured onion chutney and dessicated coconut. This was a first for both of us, a tasty dish that was lovely to eat with our fingers!

The Hoppas were followed by a new speciality that has been introduced at Fushia - Masala Dosas, a dish that Srini is especially proud of. The Dosas are from Southern India, and neither of us had seen anything like them anywhere before. Shaped like an enormous pancake roll, the Dosas had a gorgeous Masala filling of lightly cooked potatoes, onions, green chilli and spices, so it is soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside. The Dosas came with ‘Sambar’ (vegetables with lentils) and coconut chutney.

Apart from the wonderful food, there were two things that especially impressed us. First was the huge range of dishes to choose from, that even included a whole, separate selection of Vegetarian Starters. Secondly, we were able to watch the chefs cooking the food through a huge glass window!

The service was very friendly and attentive throughout the evening and the setting was attractive and interesting, being in a converted cinema. You can see more of the amazing selection of dishes available at Fushia at their website, www.fushiauk.com

The stylish interior of Fushia.