Ireland’s smallest takeaway is open for business in Tipperary!

Tipperary can now claim its latest accolade by virtue of one of its towns opening Ireland’s smallest takeaway.
The Little Indian Kitchen was opened last March by owner Tessa King and is based in Knock village outside Roscrea in north Tipperary and according to Ms King, it can claim the title of Ireland’s smallest takeaway.

The unique venture was inspired by similar establishments that Ms King discovered in France during trips to Europe in recent years, which saw food being prepared from people’s own kitchens at home and sold to customers, just like a normal run-of-the-mill takeaway restaurant.

“It’s a concept I have seen done in Paris by Rachel Khoo who opened her own apartment restaurant, so I thought to myself, why couldn’t I do the same,” Ms King said.

“I also went to Rome a few years ago and I went to a dinner at someone’s house. It was advertised locally and she cooked us a homemade Italian meal in her home for us and that is where I got the inspiration.”

Basically, Ms King runs the takeaway from her house, and it opens every Friday and Saturday night, with just two dishes available to buy on any given week while the dishes change weekly to keep the freshness and interest of customers.

“I wanted to make the food as authentic as possible, my own national Indian recipes that would be on our table at home. Our own food.

“I kind of wanted to go away from the traditional takeaway as such. It’s not that the takeaways are bad or anything but I wanted mine to be more traditional and authentic.”

Originally from South Africa, Ms King is of Indian heritage and she has been living in Ireland for the last 23 years and wanted to bring her own passion for Indian cuisine to the people of Tipperary in a very unique way.

“I’ve been trading since March and the response has been really positive and people have been telling me that it’s a great idea.

“We’ve been getting a lot of repeat customers because it is different and I really wanted to showcase Indian food in a way that you would almost feel that you are sitting down at my table at home with me and my children, food that we would eat as a family,” she added.

So far the venture has been a hit with locals around Roscrea and Tessa is hoping that she can continue to showcase her cooking skills and the huge array of Indian dishes she has grown up with to the masses in the coming months and years.

She has her own Facebook page called: “The Little Indian Kitchen” and it has reviews and pictures of Tess’ food and tells customers what is coming up on the menu every week ahead of her business hours on Friday and Saturday nights.