Murugan Idli in Newham

Back here to try the wonderful food! It was amazing as always for authentic South Indian dishes. The amazing idlis and chettinad kurma! But the best always is the chakkrai pongal- again an outstanding flavor. Nothing has changes after reopening - the food remains the best. The manager was always welcoming and accommodating of all our requests keeping in mind the restaurant hours etc. he made sure we got the best experience. Waiting to eat here again !

This restaurant is a disgrace in every sense of the experience and should not represent the wonderful South Indian cuisine, in the UK. It appears that they cannot even serve a high quality Idli although their name ‘Murugan Idli’ appears to suggest that they are meant to be specialists of the humble idli – a celebrated South Indian staple diet made of ground rice and lentils. One would expect a business name that contains their main product to at least serve up the best idlis that you can buy anywhere in London, but sadly this is not the case with Murugan Idli of Eastham, London. Idlis – which are meant to be soft, light and must immediately melt in ones mouth when it is served with a combination of the ubiquitous South Indian sambar – a hot, flavoursome dish made of lentils and many vegetables cooked with a unique blend of spices, coconut chutney in atleast two formats. Instead, the take-away that we received from Murugan Idli today, was disappointing [to say the least], one portion containing 2 idlis - both of them hard and of meagre quality - all for the high price of £2.80. This was accompanied with a loosely put together and watery sambar with hardly any flavour, no lentils or vegetables – except a few lonely pieces of carrots. This was accompanied by 3 types of chutney – white, red and green – not much flavour and quite spicy. The 4 portions that were ordered contained inadequate quantities of sambar and chutneys for 4 people. Notwithstanding the dismal quality the food, the manager did not even seem to know what had been served up by his staff and further, was defensive of the quality or quantity of food served. He was initially sorry, but refused to make a refund, despite challenging him about consumer rights. The arrogance of the manager culminated in the typical and abrupt cutting-the-call on the customer. Our first [and now last] visit to Murugan Idli happened with much excitement to experience Idlis but turned out to be one of huge disappointment and no value for money. The entire experience seemed like an insincere attempt to rip the general public off with substandard low quality food and service. Alas! Murugan Idli cannot even perform the simple task of plating up something that ought to be their signature dish. What is happening to the standard of food and valueless service on our local high street in Eastham? Who is responsible for this deteriorating standard – is it the Food Standards Agency or are the very people, the deserving consumer who blindly consumes without questioning the appalling standard, that is responsible? I wonder what the Citizen’s Advice or the government’s Consumer Rights will have to say in this instance.

Firstly do not compare this to the other branches worldwide - yes the idlis are not as soft . But oh my god! The food is amazing! Be it chettinad kurma or the aloo masala for the puris or kal dosi, or the sweet chakre pongal- it beats any of the other vegetarian restaurants in London. A clean and peaceful ambience and smiling service . We had the honor of meeting the Humble chef of this lovely food and took a picture of him specially for tripadvisor . By the way The chakre pongal is like the one That you get in a temple.

I visit Murugan Idli shop quiet often in London. I am from South India - Coimbatore. The quality of food is becoming the worst. The Manager of the shop is the rudest person ever I met in my life and he knows me that I visit the shop regularly. I went to have Idli today evening and it was so dry and cold as if it was made in the afternoon and being served. I checked the manager and told the Idli is too dry and not cold enough to have and I felt that it is not freshly made. He repeatedly said it was freshly made. i told him that visit here only of because of the Idli. After the arguments, he said he will replace the Ildi so what is the big deal. I asked him why you didn't give me fresh idli when I first ordered. He repeatedly said if you want I can replace the idli otherwise leave the issue. I said I will give respect for his age but the attitude was rude and unacceptable. Honestly, I will never go to that shop again nor recommend any of my family or friends. I kindly request the management to look into this matter. I don't even want to give one star. Thank you

This place was better than I thought. Visited twice during my 1 week stay. Tried mostly South Indian foods (like dosa varieties, sambar-vada, mini-idli, etc.) and they were all equally good. Kids loved it. Did not try HSB in Wembley, so can't compare but would definitely recommend this place for good south Indian food. Price was very reasonable too, compared to a lot of good restaurants here in the US (Dosas were £5.5 and most others were £2-4). Service was a bit slow, needs to improve.

Visited on a Sunday to see the quality of the items. It is a Franchise from India and the brand is very popular in Madurai, India. The items on the menu is limited. The quality is just average and the Idli is served hot . It is good. But the chutney , Sambar etc do not meet the standards of the brand. It is average only. Disable access is there but other facilities are limited .

Healthy South Indian food is served here. Hygienic. New system of ticking on a piece of paper the order you need and then it being used as a bill.

This is in East Ham, the little India, competing with dozens of Indian Restaurants! We were here for breakfast and we enjoyed it. We had the typical South Indian items , Idli and Masala dosas. It was simply good so also the accompaniments, the Sambar and coconut Chutney.

No jigarthanda - there were pictures on their website but not in the shop. Dissappointed. Not comparable to the chennai ones. No extra servings of the chutneys which are given in small quantities only

Service needs to improve. Food was good. Need to manage the crowd by knowing who came first and vice versa. Staffs were friendly.

Worst experience I ever had . We enter the restaurant with my family members of four and a baby for a lunch. We asked to wait for 10 mins to get a seat, We happily accepted to wait because of the brand name. Once we got seated waited for 35 mins to someone attend us with menu card. 35 mins we just waited even with out any water served. Never experienced these kind of customer service. If you can't serve never accept customer to pop in.

Sakkarai pongal is great - but masala in dosai isn't?! It was confusing at best to visit this restaurant. The team missed delivering multiple dishes (misplaced orders, etc). We loved certain dishes(sakkara pongal, onion utthappam), and didn't like many others (sambar rice was awful!) Will maybe give it shot again next time we travel upto East Ham

Great food, Authentic South Indian!! Spacious and clean!! If you’re looking for a place to eat good food in East London and have a good after food feeling, then Murugan Idli is a he place.

Lovely place for clean , neat , authentic - madurai style veggie food. Ghee podi idli, sweet pongal and kaara paniyaaram : Must try...chutney tastes as good as chennai tnagar branch ..opening hours are quite suited for most travellers..only downside - no take aways

It's a small restaurant towards end of the high street. I am impressed by the place. It was very neat and clean and decors was done nicely. Walls adorn photos of dishes served in Chennai. This place has a small menu and all we tried was podi idli, rava dosa and mini meals which has 4 different types of rice like curd rice , tamarind rice, sambar rice and tomato rice. Sweet pongal was very delicious. Filter coffee is must try. Service was bit slow and hence 1 Star missing for that . All in all good place and they do have created magic of Murugan idli of Chennai