The sweep of gentrification down the Northern line has reached Tooting and there is much talk of a cluster of trendy new restaurants and bars, particularly around Tooting Broadway. The Chicken Shop, run by the Soho House crowd, has generated the most excitement, but the revamped Castle pub, the Little Bar on Mitcham Road, Honest Burgers on the High Street and Tota are also always busy.
So far these newcomers have only added to the character of the area. Tooting is not the new Shoreditch – as some (estate agents?) have optmistically dubbed it. The neighbourhood seems that rare thing: a community that has retained its independent spirit and character. This is no clone town; the High Street is dominated by Indian and Pakistani shops and restaurants that continue to thrive, and tonight the neighbourhood will be abuzz with families celebrating the Hindu festival of Diwali.
Sadiq Khan, the local MP (and, under Gordon Brown, the first Muslim to attend cabinet meetings) will be among the thousands celebrating the festival (he attends most local festivals regardless of the faith). Born and raised in Tooting, he still lives there, and is a regular at many of the Asian eateries.
I should declare an interest at this point – I live in Tooting – but it is one of the best streets in the capital if you want to experience a slice of multicultural London that hasn’t been gentrified beyond recognition (hello Northcote Road) and a taste of real street food (none of your over-priced pop-up vans here, thank you). For the first in a new series of features focusing on one street in a city, we asked Khan to take us on a tour of his favourite places between Tooting Bec and Tooting Broadway tube stops.
The Wheatsheaf
As with all good nights out, ours starts in a pub. The Wheatsheaf was a scruffy, unwecolming boozer until the Antic group, masters of turning old-man pubs into quirky drinking holes, took it over in 2010, revaming it with shabby-chic touches: taxidermy (what pub doesn’t have a stuffed animal these days?), mismatched mirrors and a wall of shoe heels. There are at least five ales on tap, including two local guest ales – this week Twickenham by the By The Horns brewery, and a daily changing menu with mains from £9.50.
“When I was growing up, it was an IRA pub and I used to run past it,” says Sadiq. “Now I come here even though I don’t drink. There are quizzes on Sunday nights and we hold fundraising events here.” Last year, Sadiq ran a campaign to save the Wheatsheaf from redevelopment, successfully putting a stop to it becoming a Tesco Metro. Sadly, this hasn’t stopped the landlord deciding to build a block of luxury flats on the site, though the pub, albeit a smaller one, should remain.
• 2 Upper Tooting Road, wheatsheaftootingbec.com
Spice Village
A large refectory-style restaurant and takeaway, Spice Village is often full of families. As with almost every Asian restaurant in Tooting, the naan bread is made fresh to order, with a chef tirelessly spinning dough and baking it in the tandoor. Specials include fish tikka (marinated and cooked on a skewer) and shahi haleem (lamb cooked with lentils).
Sadiq recommends: masala fish (marinated and fried cod), £5.99.
• 32-34 Upper Tooting Road, spicevillage.co.uk
Ambala
Ambala is one of the most popular Asian sweet shops in Tooting – during religious festivals queues of people, stocking up on boxes of mithai (Asian sweets), snake out of the door. At Eid this year the shop was open until 2am and sold 500kg of sweets. “People I know from Pakistan prefer Ambala’s sweets to the ones in Pakistan,” says Sadiq. Glass cabinets are filled with tray upon tray of the sticky, chewy morsels made from flour, milk and nuts. The most popular, habshi halwa, is a gooey mixture of cashew, almond and pistachio nuts with cardamom, while children love the super-sweet, syrupy gulab jamun.
Sadiq recommends: pistachio barfi (£10.30 a kilo).
• 48 Upper Tooting Road, ambalafoods.com
Pooja
Another hugely popular sweet emporium, the stricly-vegetarian Pooja, has been open for 18 years and is run by a Muslim and a Hindu. As with many of the traditional outlets on this stretch, it plays a big role in the community, providing food free-of-charge to local charities and mosques during festivals. As well as traditional Pakistani goodies, Pooja’s cabinets are filled with Middle Eastern sweets and Turkish delight, while the shelves are heaving with bags of panipuri, the semolina shells that are filled with potato and chickpeas. But if you order one thing here, it should be the chana chaat (£2-£3) which, according to Sadiq, “is the best in the world”. The Pakistani street food is a mix of chickpeas, potato, chives with garlic and chili and tamarind sauces. Individual sweets cost from 30p, or £4-£5 for half a kilo.
Sadiq recommends: chana chaat
• 168-170 Upper Tooting Road, poojasweets.com
Mirch Masala
A Tooting institution, Mirch Masala has previously made the final of the Tiffin Cup, the Westminster competition where MPs nominate the best south Asian restaurant on their patch. Mirch is a simple, authentic, great-value Pakistani restaurant. Families come at weekends for the nihari, slow-cooked lamb on the bone; but it’s busy every day. Food is cooked fresh on open grills and served in karahi (cast-iron pots). The ginger chicken and sizzling garlic prawns are fantastic. Sadiq orders us a platter of barbecue hunks of chicken and lamb tikka, masala fish, and fresh passion fruit juice. Mirch Masala is a bring-your-own-alcohol restaurant.
Sadiq recommends: the chili paneer (£3.30) and the nihari (£7).
• 213 Upper Tooting Road, mirchmasalarestaurant.co.uk
Lahore Karahi
Recently refurbished, the better for fitting in the endless stream of enthusiastic locals, Lahore Karachi is probably the busiest restaurant in Tooting. Opened in 1995 by Zahid Iqbal (a one-time Pakistani MP), it was one of the first Asian restaurants on the high road. Now there are up to 20 on this stretch. For our second meal of the evening Sadiq orders seekh kebab (minced lamb with fried onion and capsicum), chicken methi (with fenugreek), a basket of roti and naans, and a round of mango lassis. Lahore is byo too.
Sadiq recommends: chicken methi, £6.50.
• 1 Tooting High Street, lahorekarahirestaurant.co.uk
Radha Krishna Bhavan
Another long-standing south Asian favourite, Radha Krisha Bhavan, just south of Tooting Broadway tube, opened in 1999, and according to Sadiq is one of Tooting’s friendliest: “The staff are brilliant”, he says. “My top tip is one of the Malabar dishes: rice pancakes fermented with ground coconut and coconut milk. You can get them with vegetables, fish, or king prawns. And leave room for the traditional Keralan side dishes. I always get the avail, a fresh vegetable dish with yoghurt and spices, and the green banana is good too.”
Sadiq recommends: king prawn malabar, from £7.95.
• 86 Tooting High Street, tootingsouthindian.co.uk
Tota
The only non-Pakistani restaurant on the list, Tota was the first of the new breed of modern bars and restaurants to open in Tooting. It may be named after an Anglo-Saxon chief but it bears all the hallmarks of the 21st-century bistro: bare-brick walls, wooden floor, factory lights. A popular brunch spot – homemade granola, pancakes, huevos rancheros, and Bloody Mary’s – it takes pride in well-sourced ingredients (fish is supplied by Moxon’s in Clapham) and is a firm local favourite for “team Sadiq” who had their Christmas dinner here last year. It’s the end of the tour so we order pudding - a rich chocolate tart which finishes me off. Every one of the places on this list is worth a visit, just perhaps not all in the same evening.
Sadiq recommends: pancakes with blueberry compote, £6.50.
• 102 Tooting High Street, tota-restaurant.co.uk
