The show has come on. The Mumbai street food merchants are back after a short hiatus and can now be found in the ground floor cafe of the Soho Theatre.

Two years ago you’d have found Curry On Naanstop (yes it is a bit of a forced pun) only at KERB at Seven Dials Market. Today there are Food Truck locations to be found in various parts of London, but this is a proper bricks and mortar setting.

I walk past the Soho Theatre most days, I never recognise any of the performers in the posters and the productions always seem rather ‘vibrant’, so I’m not sure what to expect this lunchtime. Will I be assaulted by mimes? Subjected to a lecture on pan sexuality? Firmly asked to leave?

Actually, it’s rather a nice space with high ceilings and booths for people taking advantage of the new offering of authentic Mumbai Street food from midday until late, six days a week.

It’s all delightfully simple, and it all sounds good, so we dither a bit over ordering. With some help from the staff we settle on (as it turns out) too many dishes but kick off with a psychedelic collection of papadums. I’ve never seen such colours and shapes before, and it’s a generous pile. Two tasty chutneys, in proper large quantities, keep us busy until the arrival of chicken lollipops.

These are ten-napkin jammy and very delicious with the fresh coriander and a squeeze of lime. You have to pick them up by the bone and get seriously stuck in, and the chili heat is fire-alarm time, but we don’t mind that, although we do feel a bit sticky afterwards.

Mopping it up was Papdi Chaat, mashed potatoes served with chutneys. The Papdi rice crackers looked like Ritz crackers, but were thicker and denser. We used these to spoon up the spiced potato all topped with sev and pomegranate seeds.

Sev is made from broken up fried noodles of chickpea flour paste, seasoned with turmeric and cayenne. You usually  find it as part of Bombay mix, it’s tasty and rather addictive and so we piled in. Pomegranate seeds are irritating though, the bitter seeds get stuck in my teeth. Maybe that’s just me, to be fair.

Two veg samosas arrived. These were pretty robust examples of the type, with thick pastry baked and not fried. As a result the words ‘Indian Cornish Pasty’ were heard from the other side of the table. The filling was very good, but the pastry was heavy and rather dry. I prefer my samosas the usual way, thin-skinned and  deep fried.

Another Mumbai street snack is Keema Pav, a minced lamb curry served with buttered bread rolls. We loved the curry part, very aromatic and spicy, but despite my being a butter addict, I found the quantity of melted butter on the rolls a bit too much to take.

Kari Dosa is new to me. Not the usual thin and crispy rolled pancake, but a thick egg pancake on top of a standard rice dosa then topped with delicious minced meat so it’s crispy/soft. The three sauces with it have a satisfying spiciness. It’s very ‘street’, one of these would keep most people going for a day or two.

Not us though, we’re having a chicken biryani. This is very homestyle and all the better for it. The most important thing is of course the rice. It is the best part, the marinated chicken is really the flavouring for the rice, although good in itself.

I look for ‘witches fingers’,which is how the rice grains should be – long and a bit twisted, signs of quality basmati rice, properly presoaked. This has it all, an excellent biryani all round. Dollops of yoghurt cool and soothe.

We end up with Metha Paan and chocolate coated Paan. These are betel-free as  betel “Bengali ‘chewing gum’,” is a mild narcotic and now regarded as dangerous to health. What this Paan retains is the aromatic sweetness of the various spices to freshen the breath and allegedly aid digestion. We tried both the Paans but decided they weren’t for us.

They were the only things we really didn’t like, too authentic for us.

Otherwise a really delicious and different ‘Indian’. You’d be hard pressed to find a better deal in Soho and the relaxed arty vibe of the Soho Theatre makes it perfect for casual dining when out for an evening or coming out of a bar late and you want to leave feeling full and happy.

Monday & Tuesday: 10 AM – Midnight
Wednesday & Thursday: 10 AM – 1 AM
Friday & Saturday: 10 AM – 2 AM

Soho Theatre Bar 21 Dean Street, W1D 3NE.