Rasa is a sanskrit word with several meanings, including beauty, delight, happiness and essence. The restaurants (because they're now a chain) all serve delicious South Indian food, delicately spiced with coconut, lemon, mango, cinnamon and tamarind. The Lemon and coconut rice, and freshly made idlis, appams, and Uzhunappam are a perfect accompaniment to the curries and the starters are perfect southern street food. The first Rasa was in Stoke Newington and was purely vegetarian, there are now fish and meat Rasa's too, and they're all over town, but expansion doesn't seem to have dampened the quality or the friendliness of the service.