Hounslow hunger games

Like I do now and again, I am standing aside for Josh to fill you in on some of our latest eating adventures.

Anyone ever been near Heathrow airport and found themselves hankering for some curry? Tell us all about it, Josh…

Several weeks ago FGV and I were uninspired by the offerings of our refrigerator, so we desperately searched online for a not-too-distant vegetarian restaurant in suburban West London.  We stumbled upon Ashna which advertises itself as an Indian vegetarian restaurant and bar in Hounslow.  A cursory look at their website revealed that as well as having an entirely vegetarian menu, they also indicate which items contain dairy.  That was enough to convince us so we headed out to Hounslow with empty stomachs and high expectations.

When we arrived we were surprised to see that we were the only people in the restaurant…. always a bit unnerving.  Nonetheless, we were starving so after being seated we quickly scanned the menu before ordering.  We told the person taking our order that we were vegan and she said she would alert us if there was any dairy in the items we chose.  Without giving it too much thought, we ordered a starter of  Hara Bhara Kebab (vegetable kebabs made of potatoes, green peas and spices), mains dishes of Aloo Gobi Masala (mid cauliflower and potato curry), Bhindi Masala (mild okra curry), a portion of Pulao Rice and some Puri bread on the side.

The dishes came out in quick succession and we wasted no time in getting stuck into them.  I won’t go into detail about each dish but to summarise, they were of an enjoyable quality but not incredible.  There was a definite over-reliance on onions and salt in all the dishes which unfortunately overpowered the subtleties of the other flavours.  However, it was quick and cheap (all of this & drinks for under £25) and our meal was matched with some rather well-presented cocktails which makes a nice change to the often thoughtless drinks offered in restaurants.

The food isn’t of a high enough standard to have me rushing back to Ashna at my earliest convenience, but with such an extensive menu I’m sure I will eventually be lured back to sample more of their offerings.

Visit Ashna online