Anjanaas

We were looking for a place to eat after spending a tough day out with kids, pumpkins picking before Halloween. We had a craving for some South Indian, Kerala in particular.
Searches on Unilocal and the closest decent one was Anjanaas. We had come across Anjanaas as they had catered to an event we had participated and food wasn’t bad so decided to head out there.
But was tough to get there as we had to drive through central London. It took more than expected time to get there but we had called in advance and had booked a table.
The place is small, sparingly furnished and has probably 2 staff. The lady who attended us was very helpful and was from our part of the world and my foodie senses suggested that food was likely to be authentic. We needn’t have booked table in advance as we were the only ones.
We ordered the standard South Indian fare. Dosas, chicken 65, Beef Ularthiyathu (roast/​pan fried beef with spices and coconut), Kottyam chicken curry, parotta (a kind of flaky bread that the Malaysian Roti chanai is based on) Malabar biriyani etc.
When I checked into Unilocal it popped up an offer — 20% off and I was thrilled. But upon equity the staff said that they had no agreement with Unilocal so was tad disappointed. I guess the offer is invalid and needs to be removed.
The food over all was mixed bag ok — beef was average, chicken curry was lip smacking but biriyani was a let down. Personally biggest disappointment was the parotta, parotta is like the pancake of Kerala, basic receipe difficult to get wrong if you have a skilled Parotta maker. In fact most of the Parotta makers in Malaysia are from Kerala. However at Anjanaas I felt that they used off the shelf frozen Parotta and not made fresh onsite.
Having said, the place does serve pretty authentic Kerala food and I might visit once again and give it one more try. Recommended.

Tried this place to make a bit of a change from Vijays down the road. Like Vijays this serves South Indian style food too, and it also tastes great. Again it’s not the boring Indian affair where all the curries taste the same.
It must be tough being almost next doors to the well known Vijays, but Anjanna’s is up there in terms of taste. Slightly different but as good.

I liked Indian food. Then I loved it.
Anjanaas is not your boilerplate, tikka masala, northern Indian restaurant. It’s menu is taken from the traditional cousin of Kerala, the state located in the south-​west on the Malabar coast. It’s tropical, sea-​shore food, with loads of mango, tropical fruit and fish cooked all the ways you have ever wanted. The flavours are complex, exciting and – for me – completely unfamiliar. If you’re tentative about anything on the menu, ask a server or the owner (also the head chef) and they will help you navigate a very rewarding terrain of good food.
This head chef is a genius with a big heart. You, your digestive system and this man, well, they all deserve each other.

Geeta is no longer the name of this restaurant. So if you’re driving or walking down Willesden looking for it, you’ll be traversing back and forth unless you look for its new name, Ajaanda.
Okay, you Brits will have to take this review with a grain of salt, as I’m an American whose knowledge of Indian food is limited, and from the decent-​to-​good Indian restaurants I know from my hometown, Chicago. Not exactly a locus of Indian cuisine.
The meze starter included yoghurt dip, pickled chilis and cucumber/​onion in vinegar with a very thin, light, crispy flat bread (I’m sure there are correct Indian names for all these items, but, unfortunately I didn’t order so I don’t know them). This was prepared well, fresh and a reasonable serving for a starter.
My friend and I followed that up with Malabar Prawn Curry, a mild curry but flavorfully seasoned, rice and Vegetable Korma. I ate until I couldn’t put another bite in my mouth. Tasty and abundant!
If you’re a fan of the hotter Southern Indian cooking, the menu is accommodating, as it also is with a good selection of vegetarian options and variety of breads.
The storefront restaurant is not impressive but the quality of food, value for the price and lovely service by people who want you to be pleased is worth seeking it out.