What should we know about Spice Village?
Chef Joginder Singh landed in Ireland in 2005 to join the Jaipur group after nearly twenty years cooking in India. A stint at Kerala Kitchen followed a decade later, before he went it alone in 2017 with Blessington’s Spice Village. Seven years and three more openings later, the sit-in and takeaway operation has clocked up plentiful IYKYK buzz about town, not least for the Keralan buffet lunch available every weekend at its Rialto branch.
What should we have?
An appetite – with an all-you-can-eat entry fee of €19.99 and anything from 15 to 20 dishes laid out for your self-serve delight, this has the capacity to be about as much bang-for-your-buck as you'll find in Dublin these days. Modelled on sadya, a Keralan family feast typically served up for festivals and major celebrations, it’s been a sleeper hit with homesick expats.
That might explain why signage is patchy – most guests didn’t need to ask what they were dishing up, and we didn't mind leaping into the unknown. If you’re spice-sensitive or dealing with dietary requirements, staff are exceptionally friendly and happy to talk you through it.
Your first glimpse is three deep clay vats - Kottayam Meen (fish and tamarind), Angamaly Manga (green mango and coconut) and Chenayitta Kaalan (yam and yogurt). They get progressively creamier from left to right, though none have anything to fear for the spice-intolerant. The standout is the fish, thick chunks of king mackerel adding oily indulgence to a balanced curry.
Two types of thoran (quick-cooked shredded veg stir fries) are often sides in a sadya, but have enough fresh flavour here to be enjoyed on their own. That’s also true for the pazham pori, soft banana fritters we’d snack on all day. Either do a fine job in tempering other dishes, like the mild-spiced crispy chicken ’65 or the formidably fiery chicken perattu – if you want tongue-tingling pile it high. Beef roast is slow-cooked to a deep and spice-crusted complexity that made us wish we had room for more. The lentil stew sambal and veg and tamarind theeyal had slightly less wow factor, but should leave veggie visitors very satisfied.
Kappa ularthiyathu is spiced and stir-fried tapioca, not unlike the thoran in offering a more intensively-flavoured foil than rice as a base or side for all the curries, but there’s rice there too - the Keralan kind is thick and chunky. Idiyappam (rice noodles) are also served and topped up at the table – the mix-and-match possibilities are endless.
Should you still be upright by then – we very nearly were not – a dessert of payasam will come out in an ice cream cup. This vermicelli and nut porridge has a savoury-sweet satisfaction and a strong scent of cardamom - as a final parting taste, it's a fond farewell.
Why should I go?
Whether you look at it as a three course lunch or a single piled-high plate, Spice Village’s buffet offers a kind of value few in the city can compete with. There are discoveries aplenty to be had here in the joys of Keralan cuisine, and a communal buzz in the room that money can’t buy.
Spice Village
471 South Circular Road, Rialto
