Mowgli Manchester - more of a miss than a hit

There is something of a street food craze at the moment and every major eating hotspot boasts about its street cred.

The recently refurbished Corn Exchange in Manchester has been reborn as a foodie's delight and for the Halal diner they can choose from Cabana offering Brazilian cuisine or Mowgli with its 'Indian street food' strap line.

And it was to Mowgli that I paid a trip to with the Mrs and the two young ones in tow. Only the Chicken is Halal but the menu offers quite an extensive array of vegetarian options and couple of seafood mains as well so there's plenty of choice. Steer clear of the sticky wings though as it contains Rum.

We ordered a couple of items from the Street section of the menu and a couple of mains with Roti and Rice on the side.

Starters were the interestingly named 'Yoghurt Chat Bombs' and 'Gunpowder Chicken'.

Yoghurt Chat Bombs - What lies within? A burst of flavour!

Gunpowder Chicken

I have to say that I really enjoyed the Chat (pronounced Chart but without the r sound) bombs, they appeared inconspicuous but lurking behind that thin crispy shell was a burst of tangy yoghurt, sweet tamarind and spices making for a very flavourful and enjoyable starter.

The gunpowder chicken pieces were deep fried in batter and sat on a bed of hot spicy green chutney with a layer of sweet tamarind sauce on top and garnished with hot red chillies and sharp onion. The first mouthful was chicken and the tamarind and I have to say it was a bit underwhelming, however after I stumbled upon the green chutney it became much more enjoyable. I would suggest that the drape the chicken in both chutney and tamarind to give the diner the best combination of hot and sour flavours.

The mains I'm afraid were a bit of a let down, for a start both my wife and I felt that it lacked seasoning and we don't eat much salt in our household. We went for the butter chicken for the kids mainly as we wanted something mild and not too hot and in this respect it was as expected, albeit lacking a pinch of salt. 

Butter Chicken - mild and as expected

Goan Fish Curry - sadly a bit of a let down

I picked the Goan fish curry and was expecting what the menu described as a tangy and fiery curry. There was plenty of tanginess from the tomatoes however I failed to pick up any fiery notes unfortunately. For me the dominant flavour was tomatoes and I wasn't impressed.

We didn't order a massive amount and thanks to a lunchtime offer they had on, the total cost for food was just over £20, which isn't bad I guess however I would rather have paid a bit more for some oomph.

Mowgli was busy enough and clearly does well and if I was judging it purely on the street section of the menu then I'd say this is a good place to eat however the mains just didn't cut it for any of us unfortunately.

If you are in this part of town then I would recommend walking for another five minutes to the Northern Quarter to the old established haunts 'This 'n' That', 'Al Faisal' or 'Kabana' (not to be confused with one in the Corn Exchange) for some truly authentic cuisine from the sub-continent, at a fraction of the cost and with gargantuan portions. The only thing missing will be polished floors of the Corn Exchange, instead you'll have the rustic charms of this historic part of town.