EVERYTHING LOOKS MORE APPEALING in the sun. Whether al fresco dining, or simply seeking snack satisfaction in sweltering in London; we’re spoilt for curb side choices. Every borough brings out even the stingiest of punters. To restaurants; beer gardens, bars.
Like bees to honey we flee our un air-conditioned homes, to cooler pastures, unsure what to eat with our frosty beer. Clinking glasses of rosé whisk us away from City air, to places like Tuscany; Antibes, Chiringuitos.
Street food style snaking in London restaurants
Sometimes, a charcoal grilled morsel of spiced meat is called for. Perhaps, something sprightly; salade Niçoise, refreshing gazpacho, super salty shoestring fries. Depending on the sun exposure had for the day, appetite is affected accordingly.
Wide eyed, not knowing what hankering befits me, I meander through Soho, before a clockwork scheduled meeting. Out of ideas, I stop at Hoppers on Frith Street.
Do local Londoners still frequent London restaurants?
While going out to eat in London is a fantastic way to part ways with hard earned cash, Londoner’s will go to restaurants. For several reasons.
They continue to do so, when they can. If they can. In any economy. Restaurants aren’t empty when tourist season is low. Look at the number of growing restaurants, everywhere. More gastropubs or pubs serving food, in residential areas.
Resistance is futile, when it comes to prioritising this activity. Not making dinner party plans: picking a restaurant, thinking to make a group booking. Walking in alone. Whichever happens first. Even if it means the rest of the week, or month, is looking pretty bleak.
No need to justify spending money on restaurants
Shops closing early on a Sunday? Charcuterie needing replenishing, for that impulse-buy board? Getting embarrassed by being on first name bases with delivery app drivers?
Going out to eat at an establishment, particularly a restaurant, is a mini-break from real life. At a restaurant, those simmering thoughts, not worth having, die at the door. Return they shall; while simmering fridge layabouts, over a stove top, before doing dishes afterwards.
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Good food is important. Pleasures in dining al fresco alone; with family, friends should include good food. While it’s not always the case, it’s the jewel in the crown of the experience, as a whole.
Making good menu choices in Soho London Restaurants
Hoppers need fermenting of rice flour for up to 18 hours. London restaurants calling their hoppers recipe an authentic Sri Lankan hopper recipe, can cut corners: instant hoppers take 30mins. Sharing the same basic ingredients as Indian idli; instant or authentic hoppers are made at Hoppers, now a chain, throughout London. Caveat here being, it’s called just a hopper on their menu.
Essentially, hoppers are bowl shaped, coconut flavoured crêpes, typically found filled with egg. on the streets of Sri Lanka. Frith street, in London’s Soho: the birthplace of cholera; historically riddled with all kinds of debauchery, boasts such street food. No one knows why it’s called a hopper but it’s selling in London restaurants.
Residing now in tandem with theatre; art, hedonism. Gentrification of the West End means that it’s socially acceptable. Debauchery, that is. Eating well, too.
Hunting cries of “So-ho!” in the 17th Century are where the name of this London hub derived from. Open fields it was at that time. A royal park for the Tudors and Stuarts. Now we can sit here and decide between a pint or a half pint. Dim sum or dosa.
Making a good menu order is simple. Select one item at least, if it’s there, that’s scarcely found in other London restaurants. Inconvenient dishes for the home cook, make for a good order as well. Hoppers are just that.
Satisfying a dosa craving in Soho instead of Southall
Plot twist: although unfamiliar with hoppers, it’s the brief extreme weather that has me feeling so-so. So swerve I do, along with my order, to park myself atop a stool, tucked in Hoppers’ interior countertop. Facing Frith Street through the glass, I make a more familiar order.
A treat it is; craving a cold draught Cobra or Lion lager, while Frith street watching, this once popular aristocratic residence. Nearby where I sit, is Bar Italia. Once a laboratory where Scotsman, John Logie Baird, first demonstrated television at No 22 in 1926.
Beers come in cans only. I opt for Singlefin Lager, to go with my plain dosa. For the first time in my dosa ordering life, it’s plated on its lonesome, unless I pay extra for two house chutneys. Out of curiosity, I do.
Empty as it is, my prior greeting hasn’t been welcomingly warm. Surprisingly, or unexpectedly, to the point it required clarity by repetition of instructions. Only for one hour could I sit by the window. No menu was provided me. Neither was anything on it explained, once I found one, myself, to peruse.
Service is prompt, in line with the cozy, uncomfortable aesthetics. Guild to emulate, or draw inspiration from Sri Lanka’s village toddy shops; where neither Head Chef, nor co-founder originate from, by birth. Cuisine here is described as specialising in Sri Lankan and South Indian, nonetheless. My understanding is that; different types of dosa exist in both countries, regions within both countries too. Such regional differences in dosa recipes: preferred toppings etc. align with those held by most of the world’s foods of significant National popularity. Pizza comes to mind. Noodles, for example.
London restaurants excel in simple food done right
Texture makes a dosa, for me: light, paper thin crunch, a hint of grease around the edges. Contrasting this flakiness, is a slight chew. It yields towards the dosas’ centre, similar to that of a galette. Simple; incredibly moreish – to the point that I can’t help but attack it, with vigour.
Dosas differ from hoppers, ingredient-wise, by typically having a 3:1 rice to lentil ferment in their dough. Like roasted lentil crackling, they’re pleasantly light yet satisfying. Slight funk from fermenting dosa batter, before it’s spread out thinly on a hot pan, is mellowed out by methi. Mildly bitter, methi – or fenugreek seeds – balance the bacteria rich Urad dal (lentil’s) capacity for tangy sourness, during its fermentation process with rice.
Stingy samples of accompanying house chutneys posses as much flavour as unseasoned, boiled egg white. What a taxing job it must be; as a chutney. Having an unrelenting itinerary of being boldly bland, beside a plain dosa.
When I read the menu later, I see the worst (red) one is tomato, while coconut chutney is better out of the two. I don’t like coconut but at least it doesn’t taste like watered down, tubed tomato paste. No ghee, tamarind or Kashmiri red Chile is in whatever batch that was, though. Which is most unfortunate. Try as I might, I can’t single out a single flavour, although the coconut chutney is ever so slightly grainy in texture, hinting the presence of something.
Singlefin lager in a cold can works a treat to wash down every last crumb. Which I do. With pleasure. Now to scoot out of here before my hourly alarm.
Reviewing my overall experience at Hoppers’ London Soho Branch
When I popped in for a snack, at the end of May 2026, I wasn’t looking to make a make a meal out it, or a follow-up restaurant review. Cambridge law graduate, co-founder (with JSK restaurants) and creative director, Chef Karan Gokani, wasn’t looking to leave the corporate world, I suspect. To follow his passion; travel through Sri Lanka and most recently this year, Chennai, formerly known as Madras. All over the “Gateway to South India,” he went, along with Renjith Sarathchandran, his executive chef from Ernakulam, Kerala and Sri Lankan development chef from Colombo, Kavinda Dasun.
Passion led cookery is explorative; ever curious. Although it’s not all about mouthfuls bursting with flavour, there’s a core element that come across with it. Fundamental, uncompromising care in creation: a flavour all on its own. While not especially feeling this here, there’s skill in making something so simple, memorable enough to think back on. Not finding one of any of Chef Karan’s recipes to be for a plain dosa, says a lot.
Looking for something not there, the fact that hoppers are hard to find in London restaurants, isn’t a coincidence. Seems more like a recipe for success, in the business of London restaurants. At least, to me it does.
Hoppers Soho is listed in the Michelin Guide: a Michelin Bib Gourmand was awarded this first branch. 2015 marked on the restaurant’s red plaque award, is its first year of opening, on Frith street, also home to Mozart as a child, between 1764 and 1765.
Ratings!
Plain dosa – 8/10, House Chutneys – 2/10
Value for money – 5/10
Vibes and service – 4.5/10
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