The food here is exceptional! This place is a Stoke Newington institution. The prices are incredibly reasonable and the flavours are beautiful. You absolutely must go here if you like South Indian food- you will not regret it!

I have now tried the restaurant a few times and food does not smell Indian yummy (mening smelling the lovely spices!) nor tastes nice. Disappointing and not sure why so many good reviews and restaurant so popular.

We visited Rasa based on the excellent reviews on Tripadvisor. We were really disappointed. They were only serving a set menu for Valentine's Day at £22.50 per person. This was fine, but the food and service were both terrible. The nibbles were all a bit...stale, the starters were forgettable and the main was watery and bland. In fact, the food was so poor and overpriced that the table next to us complained and refused to pay the full price for the meal. The service was inattentive, and the food was very poor. This feels like a restaurant that is resting on its laurels, and wanted to make as much money as possible for substandard food on a busy Valentine's Day night. I can't speak for what it's like on a normal day, but I won't be returning to find out! Hugely disappointing given the positive reviews below.More

Rasa is clearly a popular place to eat. We were staying locally and had booked in advance fortunately, even though it was a Thursday evening. We were shown through to the room at the back to a table where, yes, we were squished into the...corner, but it did mean that we didn’t have people squeezing past us. There was one very large party there celebrating someone’s birthday and 2 other slightly smaller parties and us on our own in this back room. The rest of the restaurant was also completely full. We were probably double the age of the majority of people there, but although noise levels were generally quite high, it was not raucous and people were very friendly. The service was fine. We were glad to place our order before the really large group. We were very hungry and very pleased to see lots of vegan options on the menu. When we asked about vegan wines, we were informed that they were all vegan - something I find slightly hard to believe, given how hard they are to find normally. However, we let that go. I can’t remember the names of the dishes we ordered, but one was a dahl, one an aubergine dish and one a spinach and potato dish. The side dishes are about the same size as the mains. We also ordered a portion of coconut rice and 2 chapattis. We polished everything off without any difficulty, but we were certainly full. It was all extremely tasty and we had a thoroughly enjoyable evening. I would definitely recommend Rasa as a good place to eat.More

I literally never write reviews, but I'm hoping it will spare a few people from going here and having a similar night to what we had. I'm south indian, and we recently returned from a trip to kerala and we really missed the food, so...we thought we'd finally go to Rasa which seemed to have great reviews. First sign of the terrible night to come: The place was packed but there were no other indians in there, which is not a bad thing in itself, but is an indication in my opinion as to the authenticity of the food. All we had an hour into us being there (which was around 8.45pm so I was already starving) was 3 vadais and a "masala chai", which had no masala or chai from what I could tell, was served in teacups, was mostly water, had no sugar and had a single, sad, "elaichi" (cardamom pod) floating on top. That was the final straw that sent me to tears, because I was so hungry by that point and all I had to soothe myself was this terrible watery concoction masquerading as tea. I could barely catch a waiter to ask about our food, because they kept avoiding eye contact and we had to ask to be even served water. The only positives were that we were seated at a cramped table near the door which was cold, and they agreed to move us (two people) to a four seater table when it was busy. The mains we got - masala dosa, thakkali curry, and paratha - were good I have to say, although dosa was cold. So if you've never tried REAL south indian food and don't get hungry easily, you might have an ok time. Otherwise, steer clear. And if you have a recommendation for a great south indian restaurant in London, I'd love to hear it.More

Always crowded - which is a good sign - Rasa offers a variety of typical Indian fare. Welcoming service. Excellent food.

Not too bad. We ordered the feast which came with a selection of dishes. Starters were the best bit with crispy fried aubergine being the star of the show. We specifically asked for a dish with paneer and something spicy. The paneer dish had two...small bits of paneer in. The main dishes were lacking in spice and a depth of flavour which was a shame, perhaps it's just south Indian style.More