You know you’re on a good thing when the hoppers regularly sell out. The brittle cups crafted from fermented rice flour are only available at Hop&Spice for dinner at weekends,and those in the know order ahead.

But consolation prizes at this brightly lit canteen can’t be overlooked. Lamprais is a specialty – a patchwork of deep-yellow rice,boiled egg,eggplant pickle known as moju and a choice of curry,perhaps chicken laced with cardamom and clove.

You’ll want more moju,and its blackened threads of eggplant,onion and green chilli,as a complex counterpart to a pull-no-punches goat curry.

Distant banging from the kitchen is a drumroll for kottu roti,a messy,joyous chopped roti stir-fry that balances out most everything from the fiery “devilled” section,while the honeycombed spiced custard watalappam is dense with cardamom and palm sugar.