Sumi’s Kitchen takeaway review: food truck serving great Indian street food draws a crowd in Dublin 4

The menu changes regularly at this wonderful food truck

Pankaj and Samruddhi Adurkar opened Sumi’s kitchen in September 2023 and it attracts a huge number of Indian diners as well as Irish fans
Pankaj and Samruddhi Adurkar opened Sumi’s kitchen in September 2023 and it attracts a huge number of Indian diners as well as Irish fans
Sumi’s Kitchen
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Address: Ryan's Beggar’s Bush Pub, 115 Haddington Rd, Dublin, D04 H328
Telephone: N/A
Cuisine: Indian
Cost: €€

What’s on offer?

Pankaj and Samruddhi Adurkar opened Sumi’s kitchen in September 2023, trading from their food truck in the parking lot of Ryan’s pub in Beggar’s Bush in Dublin 4. Pankaj says that his wife runs the whole show. The couple hail from Mumbai in the state of Maharashtra in India, but have travelled considerably with Pankaj’s job. With her food, Samruddhi says that she wants to introduce Ireland to the authentic taste of food from her home and other parts of India. Much of it is the food they grew up eating in Mumbai.

Sumi’s Kitchen attracts a huge number of Indian diners as well as Irish fans, and we get talking to one of the regulars who is from Varanasi, the oldest continuously inhabited city in India. He suggests ordering the two vegetarian specials and some of the snacks.

There is a substantial outdoor area so you can eat on site and order drinks from the pub.

What did we order?

The vada pav, onion bhaji, tawa pulau, dahi vada and ghee roast chicken.

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How was the service?

The service is incredibly warm and friendly. We ordered our dishes and they were dropped over to us by Samruddhi as they were ready.

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Was the food nice?

The food is delicious. The vada pav is a deep-fried potato dumpling, tinted green from a green chilli paste. It is tucked like a burger into a bun which Samruddhi bakes on the truck, topped with chopped carrot and onion. The onion bhaji comes as strands of onion in a golden spicy batter served with raita. The tawa pulao, a Mumbai street food dish that is made on a large flat iron griddle known as a tawa, is spiced long grain rice with vegetables, cardamom and coriander served with raita and poppadoms.

The ghee roast chicken is a Mangalorean dish, a dry chicken curry that has serious chilli heat from the roasted spices, served with two malabar parathas and a garnish of cucumber, onion and lemon. The dahi vada, made from soaked urad lentils that are ground into a batter and deep fried, is served in a sweetened yoghurt.

What about the packaging?

There is a mix of containers, recyclable plastic, cardboard and plastic cutlery.

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What did it cost?

€38 for dinner for two people: Vada pav, €5; onion bhaji, €6; tawa pulau, €10; dahi vada, €5; and ghee roast chicken, €12.

Where does it deliver?

It is takeaway only in the parking lot of Ryan’s pub. Wed-Fri, 4pm-8.30pm, and Sat-Sun, 1.30pm to 8.30pm.

Would I order it again?

Absolutely, the food at Sumi’s Kitchen is fantastic. The dishes change regularly and it is particularly good for vegetarian food.

Corinna Hardgrave

Corinna Hardgrave

Corinna Hardgrave, a contributor to The Irish Times, writes a weekly restaurant column