February 2010

The Mogul, Greenwich

Well, rock my soul. Drum roll please… Is this girls I see at the GCC monthly meeting? Does it mean a table full of butter chicken? Then I shall hit back with an equally male curry cliche and order a vindaloo. But hang on, butter chicken is the traditional Murgh Makhani version and the good old Vindy is not on the menu at the Moghul (we have returned by popular demand). The Mogul’s menu is what is called ‘authentic’, whatever that means.

What it means is that we all require pronunciation lessons from the (very friendly) waiter in the black-and-white-striped shirt. And another drum roll please… well done Mr Striped Shirt, it’s not often someone takes an order for about 25 dishes and remembers exactly who ordered what (even when those sitting around the table had forgotten when the food trolley rumbled around the corner).

What he didn’t bank on was Mary turning her Chicken Bhoona (ordered off menu so presumably vindaloo would be rustled up too if you asked) into a pizza with a paratha base. Blondes certainly having more fun.

Despite a brave effort from Val to make sure we didn’t order enough for 70 people instead of the seven who made it, the table buckled under the weight of dishes. Top four dishes were 1. Imli Machli (£8.90) which for those without their ‘authentic’ Indian dictionary is red snapper cooked with coriander, black pepper, tamarind and onions, Acharia Gosht (£8.75), roast lamb cooked in zesty pickles and the starters Paneer Saslick (£3.50), pictured above, and Hajari Murgh (£3.70), although the latter was swiftly renamed ‘the first thing on the menu’ by Dave.

Pronunciation problems, who needs them eh, Dave?

• Mogul, 10 Greenwich Church Street, SE10 9BJ. Tel: 020 8858-6790. Open: Mon-Fri 12.00-14.30, 18.00-23.30, Sat-Sun 12.00-23.30.

Mogul snapshot

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January 2010

Gurkha’s Inn, Greenwich

The best thing about having a decent number around the table for an Indian (well done Ian for rustling up five this month, and even an apology for absence from Tina) is that you can order what you fancy and then when you get bored of it you can just pinch a bit from someone else’s dish.

So it was at the Gurkha’s Inn in East Greenwich. Ian orders King Prawn Tandoori (£9.99) and we all pile in so he only manages good bite or two and couple of butterflys himself. Serves you right for ordering the tastiest-looking dish Mr Organiser.

But the truth is, all the dishes were rather tasty, so swapping and tasting was de rigueur on this first meeting of 2010. I throw in this French phrase in honour of Antoine, our first foreign member of the GCC (Greenwich Curry Club, don’t you know), who received a well-deserved toast for the honour.

Our free-for-all, however, was a rather civilised affair with lots of ‘pleases’ and ‘thank yous’ and ‘you must try mine’ etc as if we are all grown up and middle-aged now (well, at least one of them is accurate).

Dave, in particular, was keen on the ‘you must try mine’ phrase because he ordered the least-enjoyed dish on the table, the Gurkhali Mixed Karahi (£6.95) whose menu description of chicken, lamb, sheekh kebab, prawn with tomatoes, spices and wine, sounded good at least.

But not as good as the rest tasted. The Moghuls perfected the delicate blending of spicest with butter and cream hundreds of years ago and the Gurkha’s chef has picked up the trick. Bring on the Chicken Aishwarya (£6.95), pretty much butter chicken (can’t go wrong there), Gurkha’s King Prawn (£9.95) a butter-tomato sauce with cocunut, and Kukhura (£6.85), which bizarrely for an Indian was more like a Chinese stir fry in black bean sauce, but a nice addition to the free-for-all nonetheless. Add in Pilau Rice (£2.15), Aloo Gobi (£3.25) and a super delicious and spicy Saag Bhaji (£3.25) that would even have Popeye coming back for more, and even Dave’s magical mystery tour down the alleyways to get us here had been forgotten.

Well, we should have known it was going to be good the minute we’d tasted the Momo (Lamb) as starters (£3.85). Soft dumplings wrapping up mincemeat and dipped in achar. Unusual and nice. And that, indeed, is the joy of a Nepalese (did the name Gurkha give you a clue?): all the old favourites but with a twist and a couple of new dishes.

And so it was with the beer. Khukuri, said to be the essence of Nepal (the name is the Gurkha’s famous fighting knife) is rather refreshing and ideal for washing down spices. It’s brewed in Manchester. As you’d expect.

• Gurkha’s Inn, 17 Colom Street, SE10 9HA. Tel: 020 293-5464. Open: Mon-Thur 17.30-23.30, Fri 17.30-midnight, Sat 12.00-15.00 and 17.30-midnight, Sun 12.00-23.00.

Gurkha’s Inn snapshot

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December 2009

The Mogul, Greenwich

Dave’s go the sniffles. He looks like he’d rather be tucked up in bed with a good woman. But, he’s a loyal determined member of the Greenwich Curry Club and he’s battled through the snow and the cold to be here tonight. He missed the early beer at the Prince Albert but we (Ian and myself) have forgiven him because of his cold. Sniffle, sniffle.

Even with an intimate meeting of just three curry lovers we decide no Indian can be complete without a Chicken Tikka Masala (Britain’s favourite dish) so the Makhani Murgh (£7.70) the orginal version of this dish, is instantly ordered with Pilau rice (£2.95) and a naan (£2.20). That should help your sniffles Dave.

But tandoori is the speciality here at the Mogul, so two Tandoori Sizzlers (£9.90 each) are ordered (it had all been decided in the pre-drink meeting in the pub). We know we can pinch a bit of the creamy Makhani anyway.

The Murgh Makhani is spot on (yes we do pinch a bit of it), and little metal dish holding the rice does look sweet in front of Dave. He pushes it into the middle of the table.

The Sizzler includes good chunks of chicken and lamb as well as pieces of sheekh kebab. All delicious with mint sauce, and none of it glowing with red colouring.

Dave might have the sniffles but he’s valiantly battling on with his Kingfisher between mouthfuls. Ian is on the red wine, but he’s a nice bloke so we let him off.

Our waiter is determined to sell us some more rice/bread/vegetables and returns umpteen times just to make sure we haven’t changed our mind since our initial order. We hold firm and enjoy the Murgh Makhani and Sizzlers.

Dave’s even stopped sniffling.

• Mogul, 10 Greenwich Church Street, SE10 9BJ. Tel: 020 8858-6790. Open: Mon-Fri 12.00-14.30, 18.00-23.30, Sat-Sun 12.00-23.30.

Mogul snapshot

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