BEST veggie Indian restaurant in Dublin

Macha

Reading the recipe for Dosas in the Guardian link reminded me about my favourite restaurant in Dublin - and the fact I'd forgotten to post about it here

It's called Medina and it's on Mary St (the continuation of Henry St). There's a fantastic asian store beside where you can get bug bags of nuts, spices and lentils at the cheapest prices in Dublin. It's the only place I know that sells panner..mm..paneer...

Anyway so that's the store but the restaurant is great. They're sort of a muslim restaurant as well so they don't serve any alcohol but don't let that stop you going -Their menu is divided into Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian - both menus the same size (shock!)

It's great - highly recommended - REAL Indian food.

drdre

I would second this comment, There food is great and i would recommend it to anyone.

Dennis the Stone

So no meat?

rockbeer

Madina has a meat menu and an extensive veg menu. All the veg food is cooked in a separate area away from the meat so there is no contamination. The place caters mainly to Indian customers and the food is not only fanatstic but about as authentic as you're likely to find this side of Kerala. Try the masala dosa - you'll feel exactly like you're in southern India.

Fantastic.

TheBigLebowski

Kemos wrote: »

So no meat?

Did you actually read the post. "THEIR MENU IS DIVIDED INTO VEGETARIAN AND NON-VEGETARIAN"

Tar.Aldarion

Is there a link to the menu?

lizzyvera

Oh I always go there with my boyfriend because it's the cheapest place to eat a good dinner in town. The music is ridiculous but the food is gorgeous. Get their peshawari naan. And onion bajhee and veg samosas.

Sometimes we're the only non indians there so the food must be very authentic.

Tusky

I usually go to Jaiper on Georges street. Is Medina expensive ?

drdre

I was there afew days ago.Its not that expensive but very nice.The music is good if you understand it.

TheBigLebowski

Tusky wrote: »

I usually go to Jaiper on Georges street. Is Medina expensive ?

Wasn't too impressed by Jaipur at all. Not bad but not to my taste. Everything tasted too sweet. Compared to Jaipur, Medina is inexpensive and the food is pretty good...

I am absolutly dying to get to Dublin to try this out!

Nature Boy

Went passed Medina yesterday and had a look at the menu. They have prawn dishes on the vegetarian menu. Does that mean that Muslim vegetarians consider seafood to be ok to eat, or does it just mean that the chefs don't know what a vegetarian is?

taconnol wrote: »

Their menu is divided into Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian - both menus the same size (shock!)

About 1/3 of the veggie menu is seafood so I'd say it's about 60-70% non-veggie

rockbeer

Take no notice of Nature Boy.

The prawn dishes are listed separately, at the bottom of the page with all the veggie options above, quite clearly marked as separate. Only somebody who wanted to deliberately cloud the issue could make the mistake Nature Boy does. Despite his jibe at "muslim vegetarians" I'm sure he must know that the majority of Indian vegetarians are in fact Hindus rather than Muslims, and that this amazing south-Indian vegetarian menu is informed by Hinduism rather than Islam. Then again, perhaps he just likes parading his ignorance.

The veggie menu is extensive, far more so than what you'll find in any regular Indian restaurant. And since they are catering for a primarily Indian demographic, who - believe it or not - take their vegetarianism every bit as seriously as us westerners (if not more so), they prepare the vegetarian dishes in a separate kitchen area from the meat so there is no cross-contamination of pans, utensils etc. How many other Indian restaurants with a mainly Irish target market do you imagine go to those lengths, Nature Boy?

Why do certain people seem to feel this need to diss Medina? Anybody who's ever been to India will know that this place is the genuine article, unlike just about every other Indian restaurant in Ireland, which is in fact serving up a westernised notion of Indian food. People, there's no such thing as chicken tikka masala in India... But there is more vegetarian food eaten there than anywhere else on the planet. If you want to take a pop at foreigners not understanding the needs of vegetarians, I would suggest that Madina is a poor target for your misinformed bigotry.

Nature Boy

Rockbeer, you've taken me up the wrong way. I'll be the first to admit I know very little about Indian cultures, so I was simply asking if people there who are vegetarian consider seafood as ok to eat. That's all.

rockbeer wrote: »

Only somebody who wanted to deliberately cloud the issue could make the mistake Nature Boy does. Despite his jibe at "muslim vegetarians" I'm sure he must know that the majority of Indian vegetarians are in fact Hindus rather than Muslims, and that this amazing south-Indian vegetarian menu is informed by Hinduism rather than Islam. Then again, perhaps he just likes parading his ignorance.

As an athiest I'll admit I don't take much interest in religion and I don't know the demographics associated with the different types. Appologies to rockbeer and anyone else for the term "muslim vegetarians"

rockbeer wrote: »

How many other Indian restaurants with a mainly Irish target market do you imagine go to those lengths, Nature Boy?

I don't know of any others. As I said, I was simply asking if it's considered ok to eat seafood, just out of interest

rockbeer wrote: »

Why do certain people seem to feel this need to diss Medina?
...
I would suggest that Madina is a poor target for your misinformed bigotry.

I think you're flying off the handle here. I certainly hope I didn't come across as a biggot or ignorant.

rockbeer

Sorry if I took you up wrong Nature Boy, your post struck me as sarcastic and dismissive but I accept you didn't intend it that way.

I'm an atheist too - lifelong and 'confirmed', so to speak - but I still find it worthwhile to know the basic principles of the world's major religions.

You didn't eat there Nature Boy?

I am a bit shocked that you anyone would not know that Hinduism is so integral to Indian culture.
Your not one of the people who doesn't watch the simpsons are you?

Nature Boy

Moonbaby wrote: »

You didn't eat there Nature Boy?

No not yet

Moonbaby wrote: »

I am a bit shocked that you anyone would not know that Hinduism is so integral to Indian culture.

I hadn't argued that it wasn't...

Peanut

I'm not sure why, but I got the idea that Madina was Pakistani run instead of Indian. I know most of the dishes are Indian, but would be interesting to see which ones are also Pakistani.

I think there was some statistic that many Indian restaurants are in fact run by Pakistanis. Not that it makes any difference if the food is Indian style.

btw didn't think "Muslim vegetarians" was a jibe - there are Muslims who are vegetarian, but of course it's not usually part of their religious beliefs in the way it is with many Hindus. Although I guess it depends on the particular interpretation of the Quar'an. Interesting page here.

The Sufi-sm branch of Islam (Whirling dervishes, Rumi..) is often vegetarian.

rockbeer

Madina may be run by Pakistanis, I'm not sure, but the vegetarian menu is full of Keralan and south Indian specialities - like the authentic Masala Dosas, Idlis (which are apparently on the way), Uttapam etc. All dishes that you wouldn't generally find in the north of India, but which are fudamental to southern India's predominantly Hindu vegetarian cuisine. So whatever the background of the owners, I'm fairly sure they must have south Indian chefs invoved in designing the menu, and judging by the authenticity of the dishes, preparing the food too.

In this part of the world the term "Indian restaurant" is generally used to cover anything from the sub-continent - Pakistani, Indian or Bangladeshi. Most of us probably aren't informed or interested enough to really tell the difference, but the classic names for dishes you find on Indian menus here (Jalfrezi, Vindaloo, tikka and all that) aren't much used in India or its neighbours. They're really a westernised (particularly English) version of Indian food. So it's true to say that most Indian restaurants aren't in fact selling "Indian" or "Pakistani" food at all.

That's what makes Madina stand out - the fact that it's food is idenifiably, authentically Indian - and of course this is reflected in the fact that its target market is mostly sub-continentals, who understand the nuances of the menu in a way that most of us westerners don't.

I thought when Nature Boy made his "muslim vegetarian" remark he was just lumping all Indians together in the "Muslim" box and showing no regard for the religious and cultural differences which so profoundly influence the dietary habits and cuisine of that vast country. It may not have been a jibe, but it was careless - but he and I have both apologised so no problem, eh

drdre

It is owned my Pakistani 's , Indian and Pakistani food is very similar in some ways that most Pakistani restaurant owners call them Indian restaurants.

Nature Boy

Went to Medina yesterday (despite being a bigot!). Thought it was nice. The one thing that p1ssed me off was that they brought the popodoms, and starters together. Then the mains about 2 minutes later. So we were basically sitting there with a table full of food (actually, the table was too small for all the food!). Just felt they were trying to get us out of there as quick as possible.

Nature Boy

Nature Boy wrote: »

(despite being a bigot!)

I fairness I think your worse than a bigot.....a simpsons snob

Nature Boy

I love the Simpsons!

I thought the place was quite reasonably priced too.

headlessloon

jump on a dart, get out at sandycove & glasthule station, turn right and walk till u see rasam on the right hand side. amazing indian restaurant - maybe not typical stuff - their veggie tahli is great and the spinach, raisin and pistachio dumplings are amazing! not a huge range of veggie stuff compared to meat and fish but they do have some great tasty stuff. also, i hear chakra by jaipur out in greystones has some great tasty veggie options including one with puffed lotus seeds that are worth the trek.

drdre

Nature Boy wrote: »

Went to Medina yesterday (despite being a bigot!). Thought it was nice. The one thing that p1ssed me off was that they brought the popodoms, and starters together. Then the mains about 2 minutes later. So we were basically sitting there with a table full of food (actually, the table was too small for all the food!). Just felt they were trying to get us out of there as quick as possible.

You must be a slow eater, We went and it wasn't that fast.

Nature Boy

drdre wrote: »

You must be a slow eater, We went and it wasn't that fast.

No, really, we had barely even started eating our starters before the mains came. There must have been a mix up or something.

Also, it would have been nice to have the option of having some alcohol, I mean if they can serve meat, then why not alcohol?

rockbeer

Nature Boy,
If you actually read the Madina menu rather than jumping to conclusions about it you'll notice there are no starters on it. If you want something served as a starter you'll have to tell them, or do you expect them to be psychic as well as geared precisely to your personal requirements in every other way?

As for this alcohol business, once again I'm aghast at your ethnocentricism. You appear completely unable to take this place for what it is rather than what you want it to be. You're a vegetarian, but your experiences seem to have taught you nothing about being on the outside, culturally speaking. Did it even occur to you that Madina might have reasons for not serving alcohol that parallel your reasons for not eating meat?

Then again, maybe they just don't have a license.

TheBigLebowski

Nature boy, clearly you are a downright dispicable person with no regard for humanity. What has happened in your life to be filled with such hate?:rolleyes:

Incidentally, same thing happened to - me ordered a load of food - what would usually be starters and mains etc. All arrived at once and the mains were cold by the time I got to them. Nice though. Obviously I am struck with the same bigoted affliction as you and will be joining you in hell...

rockbeer

So it's alright to revel in ignorance and disdain for other cultures?
If this is the way forward, good luck Ireland - you're going to need it.

Peanut

:rolleyes:

It's an easy mistake to make. Let's not forget that these restaurants are operating in a country which does not usually have religious restrictions on alcohol being sold.

They are fully entitled to do this, but it's also completely reasonable to expect that they will have customers inquiring about drinks.

edit: Actually what am I saying.. Madina is advertised as an Indian restaurant, last time I checked most Indian restaurants served alcohol.

Apart from Govindas, but it's a lot more obvious why not in that case.
(More people would know that Govindas is Hare Krishna run)

TheBigLebowski

rockbeer wrote: »

So it's alright to revel in ignorance and disdain for other cultures?
If this is the way forward, good luck Ireland - you're going to need it.

You need to lighten up and stop trying to turn this into another political correctness gone insane argument. This is about the best veggie restaurant in Dublin so a person is well entitled to point out the fact that they got all their dishes together and weren't allowed to have a drink. Get over it. I think there's some humanities/religious/personal issues board that might suit you better...

Nature Boy

rockbeer wrote: »

Nature Boy, If you actually read the Madina menu rather than jumping to conclusions about it you'll notice there are no starters on it.

I was sure that they had a section with 'starters' or 'appetisers' written on it, but I could be wrong. Even if I was wrong, I think it reasonable for me to assume that the same dishes you would get in other restaurants as starters, would also be starters in this restaurant. Also, that aside, why would they bring all of our food when there wasn't even enough room on the table for it?

rockbeer wrote: »

If you want something served as a starter you'll have to tell them, or do you expect them to be psychic as well as geared precisely to your personal requirements in every other way?

No, I just expect common sense.

rockbeer wrote: »

As for this alcohol business, once again I'm aghast at your ethnocentricism. You appear completely unable to take this place for what it is rather than what you want it to be. You're a vegetarian, but your experiences seem to have taught you nothing about being on the outside, culturally speaking. Did it even occur to you that Madina might have reasons for not serving alcohol that parallel your reasons for not eating meat?

Then again, maybe they just don't have a license.

This is completely absurd. Are you trying to imply that madina is immune from criticism, just because it is Indian? If I have a criticism of a restaurant, I'm entitled to say it. I enjoyed our trip to madina and I may go again. Some of the food we had was too buttery, the food all came at once, and I also didn't like that they don't serve alcohol. I'm fully entitled to say those things regardless of the restaurant type.

Restaurants are all about what the people want. If I go to a restaurant, I'm not going to say "Oh well, I accept it for what it is so I'll keep going", instead I'll say "Right, if the food, service, and price is good I'll come again".

If Madina don't want to sell alcohol then that's completely up to them, but they're taking a chance, just like when a vegetarian restaurant takes a chance on not serving meat.

Rockbeer, I was asking why it's ok for them to serve meat but not alcohol, a simple question with a simple answer, there's no need to fly off the handle.

P.S. Everyone congratulate me on possibly the longest post I've ever written!!

rockbeer

Nature Boy wrote:

Are you trying to imply that madina is immune from criticism

Of course not. I'm trying to say that if some carnivore stomped in here showing ignorance and disrespect for your vegetarian principles you'd be all over them - and quite rightly. But for some reason you seem to feel it's fine to be as ignorant as you like of people from other cultures and belief systems and expect them to fit in with your expectations. Madina is run by muslims. Go and do some reading about muslims and alcohol. What has them serving meat got to do with them serving alcohol? You don't eat meat, so should I assume that you don't drink either?

Madina, as I've said over and over, is marketing itself primarily to the sub-continental community. It's almost always full, and hardly any Irish people go. It's obviously doing a fine job of giving 'the people' (i.e. it's target market) what they want. Don't worry about them, they're doing fine.

You don't have to like it. It's just a shame that most of your reasons for not liking it are based on it not fulfilling your cultural expectations rather than the actual food. I mean, come on - you don't read the menu properly and it's somehow their fault. You're too ignorant to know that muslims don't drink so you expect them to serve alcohol just to make you happy. That's like me coming to your house and expecting you to serve up a side of beef.

Well done on the longest post!

rockbeer

@TheBigLebowski

I always appreciate mental health advice from internet strangers, as I'm sure you do, so I'll return the favour and say you need to be less complacent.

I'm happy to leave the modding to the mods, hope you are too.

Peanut

rockbeer wrote: »

... Madina is run by muslims.

Well I hope we can agree that this would not exactly be obvious to a casual bystander.

rockbeer wrote: »

Go and do some reading about muslims and alcohol.

Rockbeer you might try taking some of your own medicine, you should know better that Muslim does not equal Saudi Arabia. Alcohol is sold in Pakistan

rockbeer

Peanut wrote: »

Rockbeer you might try taking some of your own medicine, you should know better that Muslim does not equal Saudi Arabia. Alcohol is sold in Pakistan

I know that... but (unless you were entirely insensitive to cultural differences) you wouldn't assume a Muslim would drink alcohol any more than you'd assume a vegetarian would eat chicken. Anyway, it's not as though there are no non-Muslims in Pakistan.

Why is alcohol forbidden in Islam?

"most observant Muslims avoid alcohol in any form, even small amounts that are sometimes used in cooking."

Edit: Actually that's an interesting article you linked, Peanut. It mentions among other things that the brewery in question was set up to provide for the alcohol needs of mainly English non-Muslims, production was scaled back under prohibition in 1977 (since relaxed), and the consumption of alcohol in public is still nominally banned in Pakistan. All of which I think add weight to my argument.

Peanut

rockbeer wrote: »

.. It mentions among other things that the brewery in question was set up to provide for the alcohol needs of mainly English non-Muslims, production was scaled back under prohibition in 1977 (since relaxed), and the consumption of alcohol in public is still nominally banned in Pakistan. All of which I think add weight to my argument.

Eh let's agree to disagree!

You'll notice the article also says "Although the consumption of alcohol in public is still nominally banned, it is becoming increasingly available in clubs and high-class restaurants." Maybe Dr Dre could tell us more.

Anyway this is all getting highly off-topic.

I'd like to see more veggie places open in the North inner-city, the only purely vegetarian place is Govindas on Abbey st. as far as I know, whereas the southside has that cluster of places off Grafton St.

I'll sometimes go into Marks & Spencers cafe on Henry St. for a bite, the decor is good and they do a tasty cheese & tomato ciabatta. You just have to mind all the little old dears with their shopping..

Bottle_of_Smoke

Peanut wrote: »

Well I hope we can agree that this would not exactly be obvious to a casual bystander.

Being called Madina made it pretty obvious to me.

Peanut

I see the similarity to the city usually written as Medina here, but even Rockbeer thought it was Indian from the menu

drdre

Peanut wrote: »

Eh let's agree to disagree!

You'll notice the article also says "Although the consumption of alcohol in public is still nominally banned, it is becoming increasingly available in clubs and high-class restaurants." Maybe Dr Dre could tell us more.

Anyway this is all getting highly off-topic.

I'd like to see more veggie places open in the North inner-city, the only purely vegetarian place is Govindas on Abbey st. as far as I know, whereas the southside has that cluster of places off Grafton St.

I'll sometimes go into Marks & Spencers cafe on Henry St. for a bite, the decor is good and they do a tasty cheese & tomato ciabatta. You just have to mind all the little old dears with their shopping..

Yep you are right, alcohol is banned in Pakistan but is readily available in Pakistan nowadays.There are underground clubs in Lahore and Islamabad which i am aware of.

Nature Boy

rockbeer wrote: »

Of course not. I'm trying to say that if some carnivore stomped in here showing ignorance and disrespect for your vegetarian principles you'd be all over them - and quite rightly. But for some reason you seem to feel it's fine to be as ignorant as you like of people from other cultures and belief systems and expect them to fit in with your expectations. Madina is run by muslims.

How exactly am I being ignorant? I asked a simple question that requires a simple answer, not a bloody lecture. I'm sorry I don't know who owns the restaurant, what their religious background is, or what their first cousin's wife's name is, but I don't think I have to. If someone asks me why I eat eggs but not fish, I'll tell them, rather than giving out to them about how ignorant they are and how they should read up on vegetarianism. You can't expect everyone to know everything about your beliefs.

rockbeer wrote: »

Go and do some reading about muslims and alcohol. What has them serving meat got to do with them serving alcohol? You don't eat meat, so should I assume that you don't drink either?

Again, a simple answer would suffice.

rockbeer wrote: »

Madina, as I've said over and over, is marketing itself primarily to the sub-continental community. It's almost always full, and hardly any Irish people go. It's obviously doing a fine job of giving 'the people' (i.e. it's target market) what they want. Don't worry about them, they're doing fine.

I don't think anyone is worrying about them...

rockbeer wrote: »

You don't have to like it. It's just a shame that most of your reasons for not liking it are based on it not fulfilling your cultural expectations rather than the actual food. I mean, come on - you don't read the menu properly and it's somehow their fault
...
That's like me coming to your house and expecting you to serve up a side of beef.

I don't expect them to serve me anything, or in any particular way, I was just wondering why they do it in that way.

rockbeer wrote: »

...You're too ignorant to know that muslims don't drink so you expect them to serve alcohol just to make you happy

I'm sure you're not so perfect yourself, have you never asked a question about something you don't know about? Again, I know very little about religion. I don't even know much about catholicism, let alone any other religions.

rockbeer wrote: »

Well done on the longest post!

Thanks

We should have a veggie forum meal out this year.

Tar.Aldarion

Yes, all us whackos together. I'll take care of the two kids above, make sure they play nice.

rockbeer

Hey Nature boy let's call a truce. Something about the way you write your posts keeps coming across to me as sarcastic and snide, but you say you don't intend them that way and I accept your word on that. I'll try and take your questions at face value from now on.

Discussion over?

Eddie108

I would be very careful (as a strict vegetarian)about going to any restaurant that has meat and vegetarian options.If you watch Gordon Ramsey shows you will notice that most pots are used for both types of preparations and are not washed properly in most cases.So if you really care perhaps pure vegetarian restaurant is the only option like Govinda's for example.:)

Surely not washing pots properly would breach HACCIP.

Eddie108

With all due respect.You obviously don't watch Gordon Ramsey's kitchen nightmares.Here's the link where you can see some shows on line:

http://quicksilverscreen.com/videos?c=729

I bet you will change your opinion after watching.

Peanut

It's hard to completely avoid 'normal' restaurants!

Unfortunately, I think the best way you can get an idea of a place is by experience. Sometimes you can get an idea of what to expect by the general appearance, and other clues, but it's a bit of a mystical artform doing this..

Having said that, I will try to steer away from somewhere if the menu is over 50% meat..

Eddie108

It is quite simple to ascertain what is a clean restaurant.Just go to the toilet and see if it is clean.It will normally indicate the cleanliness on the entire establishment.I can only say that my senses are very tweaked and I have tasted "meaty" taste of my vegetarian dishes in most restaurants.Hence I decided not to eat out anymore unless the restaurant is pure vegetarian and clean at that.Also I noticed that most cooks take us vegetarians casually and to them little chicken stock in your soup is no big deal or a bit of sauce with fish oil in it can pass.Catch my drift.

I assume the series is called kitchen nightmare's for a reason.
Ramsey is famous for hamming up his badass performance on a good day, it is in the tv producers best interest to show things like that.
I'm re the vast majority of house don't make the grade for Kim and Aggie.
Not saying it doesn't happen rarely but it is a big leap to rule out everywhere just in case.

kieruu

i've just come online looking for information about medina.. what a strange discussion.. rockbeer seems very angry and aggressive... why he continues attacking nature boy about asking a simple question i'm not sure... if he disagreed with the question he could have explained with more respect the points he has made.. yet he insults nature boy, calling him an ethnocentric bigot... and accuses him of sarcasm when his posts are full of sarcasm and spite. how disrespectful. nature boy has the right to ask anything he wants.. that is how different cultures learn about each other, by asking without being slammed for it. no?

i imagine a restaurant called 'dublin' located in the city of medina might also cause people to ask questions about the way things are done/the food that is served and the ideology behind it... as these these may just seem strange to them. but it wouldn't make them racists or bigots or ethnocentric. it would be quite normal..

anyway, thanks for the information to those who have given it.