Surti Restaurant

Surti is now open in the evenings. The restaurant has a lovely atmosphere and everyone was very friendly.
Lots of choices.
Great to have a vegetarian restaurant in Walsall.

Every year, my partner and I go to a science fiction convention in Walsall, and every year I have to drag myself off to Birmingham to find anything to eat - a bit of a pain when you don't drive. So no surprise really that my getting my driving license coincided with the appearance of a vegetarian eaterie in Walsall. It's still easier to drive there from the convention hotel, mind, so it hasn't been a complete waste - if located more centrally, there were plenty of buses listed on the nearby bus stop.

The restaurant is located among a cluster of Asian-owned businesses clearly all catering to the local Asian community -- that and its vegetarian nature got my hopes up that it wouldn't be the sort of establishment serving anglicised "curry" to lager louts. My hopes were not disappointed.

We visited early on a Thursday, so the place was not busy. The decor is very modern, and not at all cliched. A large banner outside declared that the price of the eat-as-much-as-you-like thali had been reduced to £6.99. A nice touch - the menu had a special symbol indicating which items were not vegan. I opted for the thali; the omni partner, clearly fearing the presence of Evil Cauliflower in the thali, went a la carte and opted for bateta vada and a cheese (as opposed to paneer) dosa. He also requested, and received, a low-salt lassi. Before I got my thali, the waiter came back and asked whether I was vegan, and the thali I received was adjusted accordingly. The curries were a mixed bean and corn shak, and a dry potato curry. It came with dhokla, a wonderfully evil lime pickle, mango pulp, roti and rice. The waiter regularly checked whether I wanted more, but I was fairly quickly satisfied.

Over the road were a couple of vegetarian sweet houses offering vegetarian savouries. I plan to pop over there and investigate during their opening hours.