Vedas Two Times
We’re not telling you anything new in saying that this year hasn’t been the best for most people. In these pressing times, sometimes what you need most is to turn to something that you know will give you what you need – something that may not be new but that you know will hit the spot just right. And so it was that the Oakham Curry Club did the curry club version of breaking out the old box set of Friends, and headed to Vedas for our October meet.
Centrally located in Changshu Lu and nestled next to another Shanghai dining stalwart in Xibo, Vedas has been in Shanghai for a number of years. Those long time fans of the OCC will recall that we’ve visited Vedas twice in the past – once at the Changshu Lu location in 2017, and then to the Hongqiao venue the following year, with both restaurants scoring high enough to secure themselves a coveted OCC Approved sticker.
Food-wise, Vedas did not disappoint. We began with an array of starters – gol gappa chaat, onion bhajis, a mixed tandoor platter and of course some crispy poppadoms. Overall these hit the spot, with the mixed platter in particular attracting some positive mentions, but the best was yet to come.
The mains included a Goan fish curry, lamb vindaloo, butter chicken, palak paneer, and the requisite selection of naan and rice. Fish curries can be difficult to get right, but Vedas’ Goan fish curry was the highlight of the night, with the regional coconut flavour coming through well and contrasting nicely with the rest of the meals’ curries.
Special mention must also go to the lamb vindaloo, which lived up to its name and delivered a strong whack of spice – enough for one member to remark that it was ‘the spiciest curry I’ve had in Shanghai for a very long time.’ For the OCC this was particularly pleasing given our feedback in 2017 explicitly called out a lack of spice in some dishes. We hope more venues take note of our feedback much like Vedas has clearly done. All up, the score of 7.4 for quality was well earned.
Where Vedas also shone well was in service and customer care. The owner of the venue in particular was very glad to see the OCC return, and this hospitality shone throughout the night. Thetray of shots and vouchers for subsequent visits much appreciated, and no doubt contributed to the excellent customer care and customer service scores of 8.5 and 7.6 respectively.
For a table of 16, we ended up paying about 350 RMB per person for the whole night, including a number of drinks. With mains hovering around 78 - 88 RMB, Vedas is arguably slightly more expensive than other curry houses, as reflected in a value score of 6.8, but the overall score for the venue indicates that they make up for this in other areas.
Atmosphere-wise, the restaurant itself is much as one would expect from an Indian restaurant – with deep reds and timber floors complementing the ambiently lit space to create a warm and welcoming environment.
Overall, much like that box set of Friends, Vedas did not disappoint. Its quality food, along with outstanding customer care and customer service have contributed well to its average score of 7.5 – which places it highly enough to not only receive its second OCC Approved sticker, but also to see it leapfrog into first place for the 2020 CHOTY hunt.
Any restaurant that can prosper in Shanghai for as long as Vedas has is clearly doing something right. At the same time, we also note that 2020 has been a difficult one of the restaurant, which had been closed for a number of months due to key staff being stuck in India. As such, the OCC is happy to not only recommend Vedas, but to encourage curry fans to pay it a visit to help support the curry community of Shanghai.
Scores:
CC 8.5
Service 7.6
Value 6.8
Quality 7.4
Atmosphere 7.4