Vegging out in Rajasthan

Chai Pani means 'tea' and 'water' - a symbolic offering of Rajasthani hospitality within the home.

The name is apt, as not only does this small restaurant, tucked neatly behind Marble Arch, feel welcoming (the décor is almost domestic), but it also serves simple, comforting food that's very fresh and very good.

One thing, however, is clear from the menu - modern diet schemes are unlikely to succeed in the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan.

Potatoes abound, accompanied by aromatic pulse and vegetable dishes (heaving with mysterious ingredients) and breads - soft, crispy, stuffed, plain ... you choose.

From the appetizers choose lauki pakoda, bite-sized discs of deep-fried marrow in gram flour, with a mint chutney to die for, or perhaps the wonderful raj kachori, a delicate, puffed, flour shell stuffed with veg and swimming in yogurt and chutney, though it resembles an ice-cream sundae that's fallen from a great height.

Delicious. As for mains, either choose one of the speciality thalis on offer - Desert thali; or the Saatvik thali, comprising buckwheat puri, aloo in yogurt gravy, cucumber raita; or a vegan, low-cal or wheat-free thali.

Alternatively, take your pick from the selections of rice, curry and dhal dishes.

The aloo matar pulao is stir-fried rice and peas in a fragrant heap, laced with deadly dried chillies; panchmela subzi is a rich 'five-vegetable' curry - it's hard to identify all five, but expect pumpkin and ... potato.

The sweets range from the expected kulfi and gulab jamun, to the unusual badam halwa, a hot ground-almond cousin of treacle pud.

Chai Pani
64 Seymour Street, W1