If you've travelled by train around India, you'll know that food is an integral part of the journey. We say it's worth the risk.Īddress: 5 Charlotte Street, London, W1T 1RE However, mains such as Mowgli Paneer and Goan Fish Curry are hard to resist, as are the vegetarian and non-veg four-tier tiffins (stackable steel bowls filled with hot dishes and traditionally taken to work), which are described as "food roulette, total pot luck". A fruity, punchy chilli margarita and a smooth chai rum sling are amenable accompaniments your food.īut the chaat is the overall winner here, whether you're after classic options such as the deliciously crunchy bhel poori with its combo of sweet (pomegranate), salty (potatoes and poori) and punchy (tamarind) or you're drawn by more modern twists such as the Himalayan Cheese Toast with coriander, red onion and green chilli dressing. Mowgli also does a fine line in cocktails. Mowgli now has 18 locations around the UK (Liverpool was the first) including this elegant spot on London's restaurant-lined Charlotte Street.ĭecked out in fairy lights, with optional swing seats (surprisingly more comfortable than you may imagine) and Indian wall art and carvings, there's a warm, welcoming feel as you enter. They're also just one of many highlights on the tantalising one-page menu at Mowgli.įounded by barrister-turned-restauranteur and food writer Nisha Katona in 2014, the restaurant's aim was to replicate the food Indians eat at home and on the street. If you don't eat anything else here, the tamarind fries are a must. Tip: hang onto the chutneys as you'll want them for dipping your samosa or roti in.Īddress: 120 Battersea Park Road, London, SW11 4LY For something more substantial, order the Railway Lamb Curry first served on the Frontier Mail train in the early 1900s, it's now travelled to the depths of south-west London.ĭon't miss the poppadums (thin, crispy flatbreads), which are served with three delicious chutneys: a fresh green mint and coriander tamarind and best of all, a palate-popping purple concoction made with beetroot, ginger and chilli. Even the classic onion bhaji is fried perfectly, with thinly sliced onions and not drenched in oil. The menu is wide-ranging but the chaat ("roadside starters", as they call them) reigns supreme with favourites such as pav bhaji, a spiced potato, pea and tomato mash served on a buttered bun. Inside is a homage to South Asia with a mini tuk-tuk and auto-rickshaw replica and a bright tuk-tuk mural on the wall. A repeat London Curry Awards winner, its food lives up to its accolades too. Not far from Battersea Power Station and its new tube station is Dhaba, a friendly neighbourhood restaurant that's become popular with locals since opening six years ago for its menu of hard-to-resist street food and warming curries. The Chicken 65, a South Indian dish from Chennai, has a deliciously sticky, sweet-and-sour marinade, while the chutney- and onion-topped paneer naan is so good, it's virtually un-shareable.Īddress: 343 Kentish Town Rd, London, NW5 2TJ Chaat dishes are a mix of traditional snacks, such as bhel puri, a puffed rice dish that's as much as about texture as flavour, alongside street food-with-a-twist, like corn chaat (masala-spiced sweetcorn with fresh sweet tomatoes, fragrant coriander and chillies) and Bangladeshi shingara chaat, where a crushed samosa is topped with yogurt, sev, tamarind chutney and coriander. The eclectic menu mixes street food snacks with dosa and filling curries. Miah says he wants second and third-generation South Asians to be reminded of their parents and grandparents, and for people to recall their travels around South Asia as soon as they step inside. The wall art taps into Bollywood and pop culture memes, while all the furniture is reclaimed or second-hand, with the dining chairs a 1970s throwback to when cane and rattan furniture was all the rage. Opened in the mid 1990s by owner Mo Miah's father, Miah revamped Babuji just before the pandemic.
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