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| ITR on First Street, Manchester |
Outside of Manchester's Curry Mile there have been a couple of attempts to lift Indian/Desi street food up a notch by transplanting it to a swanky city centre location, use of rustic cutlery and that bold promise to deliver "authenticity".
Sadly I've been disappointed and let down twice.
First there was Scene Dining - the less said the better, you can read my previous review.
Secondly there was Mowgli, which offered some glimmer of hope but still left me wanting more.
It's a case of third time lucky as I've finally found what I've been looking for, Indian Tiffin Room or ITR on First Street near Deansgate Locks.
I am however late to the party as ITR has been trading for several years now in Cheadle just a stone's throw from my house, yet I've never visited. That's because their small premises has always been jam packed and a reservation, made weeks in advance, is essential if you want to eat at a sensible time. Having finally got round to trying their food, I can now see what the fuss is about and why it's always packed.
From the moment we sat down and were served a 'grazing platter' amuse bouche of Dahi Puri and Paani Puri (aka Gol Gappay) - hollowed out pastry puffs with a sweet and sour filling of chickpeas, yoghurt, tamarind and spices - I knew we were in for a treat.
Some of our party, whilst familiar with Indian food, had never come across these little morsels. After a quick tutorial that the entire Puri should be placed in the mouth as opposed to taking a small bite the apprehensive facial expressions soon gave way to looks of surprise and amazement followed by an expression of "oh wow!"
The flavour combo was bang on, cool yoghurt followed by fiery heat which was then extinguished by the sweet and sour tamarind. My only negative comment is that I had to share these with my group, I could have easily mopped up the lot on my own. I didn't even have time to take snap!
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| Goat Keema Pav |
For starters I had the Goat Keema Pav, based on that popular Mumbai Street Snack Pav Bhaji which is usually a vegetarian currry. The Keema was moist with peas running through it and topped with raw onion for a sharp crunch. It packed a nice punch of heat and was served with buttered and fried bread roll (the Pav) that I used to scoop up the beautiful Keema. I could have maybe done with an extra Pav, I didn't ask for one, and instead finished off the remaining Keema with a spoon. An excellent starter to whet my appetite.
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| Masala Dosa |
The Mrs had the Masala Dosa, which despite it's gargantuan size was beautifully delicate and flaky and filled with a spicy potato masala filling served with an accompaniment of chutneys some sweet, some hot and some tangy. Sadly there aren't enough places in Manchester serving this South Indian staple and it's a real shame, thankfully ITR not only serves Masala Dosa but also other varieties such as Rava Dosa, which I plan on trying as I make my way through their menu on future visits.
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| Keralan Fish Curry and Rice |
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| Lamb Kashmiri with Garlic Naan |
For mains we had the Keralan Fish Curry and Lamb Kashmiri both of which were very pleasant and mild, but not bland, so should be suitable for the less adventurous. I'm not sure what type of fish was used but it wasn't very strong and flaked away beautifully and not mushy which is how some places tend to serve a fish curry. Others in our group who had the Biryani however, raved about it and said it registered much higher on the Scoville scale i.e. hot! On reflection I too should have gone for something hotter however was quite content with my fish curry.
Some of the mains that I've noted for my future visits are Dhaba Style Chicken and Lamb Nalli Nihari. Dishoom in London also serve the latter so it will be good to see how the ITR offering compares.
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| Real Desi Lassi |
We washed down our food with a glass of lassi each and thankfully there is only one entry on the menu for lassi, the original one, and there is no sight of that abomination which calls itself mango lassi, which all Desi joints serve religiously yet is not authentic to the region. ITR's lassi is served in a small metal cup dusted with pistachio and is beautifully sweet, perfect for soothing any heat from the food, albeit a bit pricey at £2.50 a cup! I'd have liked a bigger cup.
There is one other type of lassi that I would have liked to have seen on the menu however, the salty variety, as that too is authentic and would be my one plea to the management to consider adding to the menu.
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| Creamy Kulfi and warm soft Gulab Jamun |
Dessert was a hot and cold affair, cool and intensely creamy Kulfi and warm Gulab Jamun draped with warm sticky and sickly sweet sugar syrup. Both were very good although the Gulab Jamun was probably a tad too sweet and rich for me but suited others down to a tee.
For 3 courses we paid just shy of £25 a head which also included two "softails" (mocktails) so it's not the cheapest but the food is very good and I don't mind the premium when I'm getting quality.
Next time I might even just consider ordering a few starters as a main meal, allowing me to sample a bit of everything and this might be a more economical option for others who want to test the waters first.
All in all I've very little negative to say about ITR, and if you're in the city centre and craving some Desi/Indian street food then walk straight past Mowgli and Scene Dining and make your way to Indian Tiffin Room, for the time being this is the undisputed Badshah/Shahenshah/Raja/King of authentic Indian street food in Manchester City Centre.
