Mowgli

Restaurant name:- Mowgli (Indian street food)
Location:-             The Corn Exchange
Date/Time:-          5th December 2016/12:45pm

Atmosphere 6/10
Hygiene 9/10
Price 6/10
Service 5/10
Taste 5/10

OVERALL 6/10

The first thing that drew me towards Mowgli was the amazing aroma. There are numerous restaurants in The Corn Exchange and originally not knowing where I wanted to go, I let my nose guide me once I entered The Corn Exchange. We were greeted by a very polite gentleman who after giving us the menus, advised us that it would be better for us to get maybe three or four dishes each as the dishes were like "tapas" and quite small. I thought that it was strange to mention "tapas" at a restaurant that prides itself on serving "Indian street food" and when a waitress took our order ten minutes later she also said the exact same thing. Very polite staff but strange they mentioned "tapas" when if they're going for the Indian experience, they could have said "thali" and maybe describe what that was to people who may not know.

I noticed that the surroundings were very nice and clean. they have ropes which separate the tables from each other and ghee pots to hold the cutlery. I was hoping that they didn't use ghee in the cooking as it is very bad for you! I liked the surroundings but thought that it was a bit odd as the tables and chairs along with the bar area were very modern but then they had ghee pots...

The toilets were very clean. I did notice that the toilet check sheet dated back to November however the toilets had visibly been cleaned so that is just a minor thing that I noticed.

We ordered:-

Maas (Ma means mother) Lamb chops and turmeric chips     £7:25p
Agra ginger chicken     £5:25p
Aunty Geetas' Prawn curry     £6:95p
Elephant atta roti (Flatbread)     £1:50p (for two)
Mowgli basmati rice     £2:50p
Coke    £1:90p (each)

The first bit of food didn't take too long at all. The lamb chops. We had two small metallic plates given to us which again I thought was strange as they had full cutlery. Only half going for the Indian experience it seemed but the main thing now was to see how the food tastes. The lamb chops weren't a starter but it was about five minutes later when the rest of the food arrived. On eating the lamb chops and turmeric chips, I noticed that they weren't piping hot. They tasted good with the lamb having a lovely char-grilled edge to them however I was a bit disappointed that it didn't come piping hot and was just warm-it did cross my mind to send them back but I didn't.

The rest of the food arrived served in metal pots which was a nice touch but again, strange to have posh restaurant type cutlery. All this food was piping hot. I tasted the chicken-it was nice but I did not notice any ginger in it whatsoever-it was more tomato and not much else. The prawn curry (which I would bet my last chapatti on that it wasn't actually made by anyone called "Geeta") had a LOT of peas in it. As told, the dishes were indeed small and for such a small dish to have so many peas in it, just made it taste very sweet. If that is what they were going for then they succeeded however I think they should state that it was going to be sweet.

Lastly, the rotis tasted fine but were too small. We were only offered the normal menu. They do currently have a Christmas menu, a vegan menu and a gluten free menu.

After we finished the food, we waited an eternity for the bill. No dessert or anything else was offered. I really thought that this let the service down a lot. being so pleasant on arrival but then after the food we were almost an afterthought. They only came to charge the bill when we got up to leave.

CONCLUSION:- The Mowgli website states that it was "built to house the handful of dishes to which many Indians are addicted" and that it "represents the way Indians eat in the privacy of their homes and on the street" however I can safely say that this is a VERY inaccurate description as my own family/relatives do not eat like this and I do not know any that do. The food was not as good as I thought it would be and the service was really great at first but then deteriorated. And it seemed like they were not fully going for the taste of Indian food or atmosphere. The music was normal pop music which only added to the strange mix of things. I also had to laugh when a gentleman behind me sated to a member of staff that "the food was comparable" to when he was in India-I'm assuming he stayed in a tourist resort and I really wanted to ask "Was it that bland?" For just under £30, for two of us, the price wasn't that bad and the seating area was really nice, however if you want to taste better Indian food-there are most probably far better places.