It bears repeating that we do a certain amount of research to ensure we are going to good places and will get a good story to tell you as 1) everyone likes to be enthused and 2) it supports an excellence agenda we believe in. It might read that these blogs are a celebration of our impeccable taste - that's not our intention. As you see below not everything we touch turns to gold….
SN: Moti Mahal is on the edges of Soho just off Kingsway in a place where the streets are broad and the buildings portentous. It occupies two floors and the decor is restrained with flowers in plentiful supply and neat white tablecloths on all the tables. Downstairs there's semicircular booths against the walls that are plush and well cushioned and low backed chairs around the rest of the table that could probably seat 6 at a push….etcetera
We arrived 20 minutes early - our coats were taken by the helpful receptionist and I asked if we could sit at the bar until our table was ready, at which point we were taken downstairs…and shown straight to a table, a table set for three, with settings too far apart for us to sit closely enough to talk. The drill is that Lou usually makes from the plush upholstery and I joined her on this occassion - the waiters made no attempt to move the place settings. And so began an evening of delays, misunderstandings, delays, confusion, delays and dismay. At the end of the meal, even the card machine wouldn't work either. I don't intend to dwell on every incident but this was the worst service we've encountered in our years of dining together. And I didn't pay the service charge so I'd say we're quits.
LM: After too long a wait (near on twenty minutes), we recieved our cocktails which were delicious when they finally appeared.
Accompanying this was a plate of DIY salad with one knife and a selection of spices. In fairness it's an interesting gimmick and turns out that radish in garam masala dressing is delicious, but a bit more of a deft touch in presentation would have been welcome; it's somewhat unexpected to be faced with an entire onion as a starter. SN: or for that matter a green chilli. That said I like this idea - it is at least pious grazing. My cocktail was a thyme vodka mojito - splendid.
LM: It's a real shame about the poor service because for me the food was very good across the board. The menu is divided into sections: 'Begin your Journey', 'Tandoori', 'The Main Stop' with prices rising accordingly. Maybe we should have clarified but my assumption was that a starter would come first, then tandoori, then the main course.
As it happened, Wagamama style, dishes came at random times and without any clear idea of when they were next going to turn up. Fine if you are expecting that but I hovered anxiously over my tandoori paneer wondering whether to dig in or wait. In the end greed (SN: hunger surely)] won out and I dug in; the paneer was soft, salty and buttery, with a nice smoke from the tandoori spices and not too much heat. I'm not sure I could taste the fennel but it was a beautiful plate of food and very generous in terms of portion size.
Starters arrived before we were even halfway through our tandoori course leading to more confusion; I had s
weet potato cake with charoli nut, cumin and ginger with a gooseberry chutney which had lovely flavours, particularly the gooseberry chutney which I'd never have thought to match with sweet potato, but suffered for being a little oily. Still, the sweet potato had bite to it and a nice crispy coating.
It's worth noting at this point that the wine we'd ordered with our starter/tandoori still hadn't turned up! We flagged down a waiter who nodded, smiled and then went and stood behind the bar having clearly not heard or understood us.
SN: My dish from the tandoor was lamb chops and very tasty they were too. I'd hoped they wouldn't be bland and over-cooked and they were just how I like them, tasty, pink in the middle with a modicum of fat to add to a dazzling but not too fiery taste/texture thing. The presentation could have been improved though and I am not picky about how food looks. The accompanying avocado chutney should have made a little more impact than it did - slightly aggressive when it could have been cooler.
After a while, most things in this special downstairs time zone seem to take a while, the starter arrived - a simple fish dish. A palm leaf parcel of Sea Bass fillet covered in rich fragrant crab meat. Its a heady combination - but there was unity in the strong spiced crab and gentle succulent mullet - would have gone rather nicely with the salad had we not eating it all (in the wait).
LM: My main was the Gucchi Mutter; fresh morels and garden peas in a yoghurt and saffron sauce. Very tasty, with fresh peas (that shouldn't need to be commented on, but sadly does - I've had stale, from-frozen peas far too many times since moving here) and wonderful spicing in the sauce. Again, very generous portion size. We ordered raita and rice as sides, all of which arrived together which was a pleasant surprise.
SN: The raita was delightful rich and still refreshing, it was creamy and cucumbery (is that a word Lou?) without those limp chunks one often encounters. A wonderful touch. My Goat curry - now off the menu, like the Mullet and Crab - was a fantastic reminder of the rich deep flavours that are hot but not all about the hot. The meat was tender and tasty and all I needed was the rice to match the rich and rewarding combination.
Fortunately a man came with a small teapot to water the towels before we used them - they expanded in no special hurry.
Uniquely we both decided against dessert.
Our wine on this evening to forget was a very pleasent Rioja.
