Ghi Rice - Napoli, italy

Rating: 7 / 10

 I almost fainted when I saw a google review mentioning "Authentic Masala Dosa" in Naples. I dropped what I was doing, ran down to Museo and jumped on the metro line to Municipo and walked the couple blocks to Ghi Rice. 

Welcoming me was an incredibly jovial and friendly face. I was shown a table outside in the sun, given the menu, ordered a dosa and waited in anticiption. The dosa came, I smashed it, left smiling and promising I'd be back soon.

Three weeks later some friends were visiting from Florence and we decided to head to Ghi Rice. Again the sun was shining and the outside table was available so we ordered some Mushroom 65, Masala Dosa and I opted for the beef curry to give something new a chance.

Unfortunately we happened to arrive just when 3 other groups of people came, along with the lunchtime rush of delivery orders, and ended up sitting almost 45 minutes before the food came. In polite style, the owner did come out and apologise for the delay, which makes all the difference. The Italian lady behind us wasn't so subtle in her interactions and I witnesses her actually walk into the kitchen to scream about the delay. 

When the food finally did arrive my friends dug into their dosa's and fell silent. For being in Italy and producing a dish so unknown to mainstream eaters, they did a remarkably good job. Potato filling was great, sambar was as it should be and the coconut and tomato chutneys both had a nice tang. The dosa itself was crispy and delicious. My beef curry was also good but I felt it lacked a bit of depth. Perhaps it had been made on the fly and didn't have enough time to settle in, or could have been spiced up a touch more, but it was definitely not mediocre. The Garlic nan was a disappointment. It was just a flat, rather hard small nan the size of a tandoori roti and was not fluffy or soft at all. 

Tiny oversights aside, Ghi Rice is honestly providing a true representation of South Indian food for those curious enough to visit. I would heartily recommend anyone to come down and try the dosa, and a few starters and say hello to the owner and support him and the cooks in what they are doing. It is these kind of small pockets of international flair that keep a big city vibrant and interesting, and Naples has a real gem here with Ghi Rice. If they just manage to sort out the lunchtime rush waiting times and perhaps try another recipe for the Nan, they'll be a firm favourite of mine everytime i'm in town.

These recommendations are just personal opinions based on my palate, things change, chefs get fired or replaced, places open-close, relocate, so take it all with a pinch of MSG  and discover your own gems too. But please do try a few of these, they have been researched exhaustively.